In the series finale of the HBO television series Six Feet Under, the character of Nate says something that rings so very true to real life. As his younger sister Claire is taking a picture of their family before she sets off to start a new journey in her life, Nate says to her, “You can’t take a picture of it. It’s already gone”. I watched this finale when it originally aired on TV, and it’s been a piece of television that has always stayed with me. Although, it wasn’t until years later when I watched those last few moments of the finale again where I realized how true what Nate says to Claire really is. Moments in time will always pass us by, even as we are living in those moments. Since time is something that never stops, that continues to move forward every single second, is it possible to truly appreciate any moment we are living if time is constantly moving forward?
We’re always being told, “appreciate every moment”, or “only do what makes you happy” because life is too short to not be doing what makes you happy. While you can appreciate the moments in your life that meant something to you, those moments, that time, is something you can’t put in a bottle and go back to when you want. Those moments are passing you by as you are living them. It’s odd to think of time in that way. How you can be in the moment and appreciate that moment, but how at the end of the day a moment in time is ultimately gone as it is happening.
It’s now the month of November, but in many ways it feels like it’s still the month of March. The month when “time went on pause”. The month when life as we knew it changed. As each month has gone by since the month of March time feels not the same as it once did. When every day basically feels the same as the one before it, time starts to feel as though it’s not moving, when it still very much is. And even though time has continued to move forward since the month of March, I feel in some ways still stuck in the month of March because that’s the month that time had the feeling as though it had stopped.
Time is an interesting thing. The thing about time is you don’t realize it leaving. It’s only later where you realize how much time has actually gone by. I began this article with the question, “Is it possible to truly appreciate any moment we are living if time is constantly moving forward?”. The answer is yes. A moment in time though, will never be something that one can hold on to forever and revisit again. This shows how life is a combination of a series of moments that come and go. It shows how nothing is everlasting, but temporary. By realizing how nothing in life is everlasting, one can see how much meaning life can have simply by just living.
Moments in time will always leave, will always fade. Moments in time will always leave, but the memories of those moments will stay. Memories of better times and better days that were hopeful and encouraging. Memories can be just as powerful as a moment in time can be. It can remind one that things can get better, be better. It can remind one to not lose hope when all hope feels lost.
These days time feels as though it no longer has any kind of meaning. Life has begun to feel as though it’s a cycle of waking up day after day to the feelings of sadness and hopelessness. I try to tell myself every day when that sadness and hopelessness appears that it’s just a moment. A moment in time that will eventually pass. And that, in time, life will be hopeful and feel meaningful once again.
Just Simply Me... 