Carpe Diem; Enjoy the moment forget the Future?

Present v Future

Let me tell you the kind of person I am before we embark on this prospective psychologically and debatably daunting article that you are reading.

My friend says she is a realist. She believes in what she experiences at the moment than the unseen tomorrow. This came after she saw that I wasn’t like her or I lived in the moment but a strong inclination towards the unseen tomorrow. She doesn’t ascribe to that class of people who are cynic or believe in goodies that come with time. Optimism and pessimism alike, are futuristic only separated by which side of hope the person has-‘full’ or ‘less’.

In our contemporary discussions, we are disjointed whenever the topic hits present and future. Typical of her mantra ‘today, now, this moment’ and typical me a hard liner for beyond ‘today, now, this moment’. She is a centurion of “YOLO” army of the 21^st century and the old dogs will tell you she is an ardent of the 20^th century’s “vunja mifupa kama bado meno iko”(crush bones while your teeth can); literal translation of live in the moment by local musician Samba Mapangala.

It’s hard to go past the Chinese walls separating my belief in the future and her belief in present. She puts strong defense when told to justify and so am I when my turn comes to present my case. A stalemate is inevitable every time.

I hope to put the debate to bed. First I have to compromise my positions and accept the truth of her side that; “seize the moment” or “enjoy the moment” as Jim Reeves sings it “One day at a time…”

Carpe Diem- Enjoy the Moment

In Odes (poems by Quintus Horatius Flaccus), lyrical stanzas of Horace I encountered one of the outstanding Greek aphorism, carpe diem in exchanges between Siduri and Gilgamesh.

Carpe diem in literal translation would mean “pluck the day as it ripe”, “enjoy the moment” or “seize the day”.

Siduri and Gilgamesh Story;

Siduri a veiled barmaid keeps a tavern by the edge of the sea. Gazing along the shore, she sees a man coming towards her. He is wearing animal skin and his face is wind bitten and battered. He looks like he has been travelling for a long time. Concerned that he might be dangerous, Siduri closes and bars her door against him. The traveler pounds on the door and threatens to smash it down. He says he is Gilgamesh. Siduri asks him why he looks like a tramp and a criminal. Gilgamesh says that he is grieving for his companion who helped to fight the lions and the wolves and slay the demon Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven. He says the Enkidu has been overtaken by fate that awaits all the humankind for his friend has turned to clay, dead.

Siduri unlocks the door, ushers in Gilgamesh offers him wine and some food. She tells him that only gods live forever and notable among her advice; “carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero” which can be translated to mean; “seize the day and put little trust in tomorrow (the future)”. Some interpreters have translated it to mean, “The future is unforeseen and that one should not leave to chance future happenings but should rather do all one can today”.

One side of the Same Coin

I am moved to look at it differently. The present is a building block of the future. You cannot separate the present when assessing the future. Jim Reeves talks about “One step at a time” begging the question, where to if not the future?

When Gilgamesh in the Odes talks of “…Enkidu has been overtaken by fate that awaits all the humankind…” What comes to the mind is death. Just so you know, death puts a stop to both present and future of all living things. It means life is the coin that bears both the present and the future.

So when Horace talks about carpe diem he does not ignore the future, but rather he says we should not trust that everything is going to fall into place for you and therefore we should take action for the future, today.

This is relevant to the proverb “make hay while the sun shines”. Hay, from the now green grass dries to feed the livestock in the future during shortage. This links the future and the present.

YOLO

You Only Live Once!

The expression communicates the same message. However the youthful "generation 21" have fail to understand; use the sentiments to shield them from criticisms that follow uncultured morals.

YOLO expression if I may assume to “understand”, demands seizure of opportunities while one can in this lifetime because we are mortals who should always have in mind impending fate. The sense of the word "mortality" explains the fate that comes with living beings. Mortality in itself, is a futuristic feature of humanity and an aspect that makes life worth living satisfactorily and not carelessly.

Conclusion

Whether today or tomorrow, we are talking about the same thing like a tree trunk and flowers in the leaves of the branches. Every action must not be in vain because we will one day (future) sit down and look at the life we lived (present); that’s when we shall either smile or mourn. YOLO, carpe diem, vunja mifupa and one day at a time is a reminder that today begets tomorrow and what we do today decides kesho.