Quote of the Week...from Juan Ramón Jiménez

I do not cut my life up into days but my days into lives, each day, each hour, an entire life.
                                                                                            ---Juan Ramón Jiménez

Juan Ramón Jiménez was a Nobel Prize-winning Spanish poet who lived from 1881 to 1958, moving to the United States when his native country began its civil war in 1936.  I have read nothing of his works...like last week's Epictetus, my exposure to his output so far has been limited to one provocative quote...

When I was a young child, each day did seem to be an entire life.  Yes, I would think about the future and remember the past...especially with regard to my favorite TV shows...but my reality was firmly rooted in the "here and now".  I think that, as I grew older...like many of you, most likely...my thoughts and focus became trained on the past...with accompanying regrets and resentments...and on the future, with its accompanying worries.  Of course, as mature adults we should all take care of our own lives and of those in our charge, and that involves reflection about the lessons from our past experiences as well as planning and preparation for the future...but that does not mean having a mindset devoid of appreciating and esteeming the present moment.  We're not talking of descending into hedonistic, selfish squalor, but rather the opposite: fighting the impulse to sink into an inertia of automatic routine and the avoidance of discomfort and instead taking risks, putting oneself "on the spot", and allowing more of the world, even with its sometimes unpredictable, ugly, and even dangerous aspects, into our lives.  Yes, let's be responsible but also realize that our entire life does take place in a day...and that day is called "today"...