Teeter On Tomorrow

Whenever someone tells you to "live in the now," or some (annoying) variation, don't you just want to punch them in the face? Not so much because it's not a good thing to do, as much as it feels like a smug declaration. 

Now that you know that's how I feel, hopefully this post won't seem like that.

I get the sentiment. But I want my motto to be "Carpe What You Can, Whenever You Can." (Sadly, it doesn't quite have the same charming ring.)

I like living now. I like my life. Regretting or aggrandizing the past is a trap. But I think it's fine to look backward and say, "That was amazing. More of that, please." Or, "I'd prefer to forgo that, if you don't mind." Or, "That sucked, but boy howdy, did I learn a lot." And it's OK to say how great or awful something is currently and how great or awful you feel about something to come.

Having said that, I really resonated with this...

“I think a lot of the problems we’ve been experiencing come from the fact that no one embraces the miracle and amazement of the present. So many people—steampunks, fundamentalists, hippies, neocons, anti-immigration advocates—feel like there was a better time to live in. They think the present is degraded, faded, and drab. That our world has lost some sort of “spark” or “basic value system” that, if you so much as skim history, you’ll find was never there. Even during the time of the Greeks, there were masses of people lamenting the passing of some sort of “golden age.” But I’d never go back and live in any other time than teetering on tomorrow; this is the greatest time to be alive.” Patton Oswalt 

I want to look back, look forward, and not forget to look around. I want to teeter on tomorrow.