Daily High Culture 15: Define the Moment

Classical Rebellion

Daily High Culture 15 May 7, 2020 "Either define the moment or the moment will define you." Walt Whitman Here’s an easy one, to understand. Define the moment or the moment will define you is the very definition of taking control of our lives. How many times have we heard someone say, “I need to take control of my life,”? It sounds obvious. What isn’t obvious is how to do it. Whitman is telling us how to do it with this quote. Most of us are constantly defined by whatever moment we find ourselves in. That is a life that is out of control. It is a life trying to navigate the seas of existence with no rudder or sails for that matter. The wind blows and I drift. The tide changes and I drift the other way. A storm rises and I fall apart. I pass into the doldrums and I languish. Every now and then the current takes me towards what I want and it is a good day. The next day conditions change and take me even further away from what I want. When we define the moment, we take control of our lives. That’s it. It’s that simple. Of course, this is a simple concept that is difficult to realize. As with learning any skill, we must crawl then walk, and finally run. We can start with trying to define just one moment today. It can be as basic as, “I’m about to turn on the TV and watch a show. What does that mean?” or “I’m going to brush my teeth, why?” The answers will start to flow. I’m brushing my teeth because I want to have a clean and healthy mouth. I am taking the time to do this now so that my future visits to the dentist will be more pleasant. I want to do this little thing so I can keep my teeth for a long time. It need not be transcendent life-altering moments which we define as we start to develop this skill. Although, brushing one’s teeth is ultimately life-altering. After a few days, we can try to define two or three simple moments per day. Again, keep it simple. Define the moment as you start to prepare a meal. Ask easy questions. What will this food do for me? Why do I like it etc? As we practice defining these simple everyday moments, it prepares us to define those life-altering moments which come with the storms. We start to take control of our lives piece by piece not all at once in one fell swoop of enlightenment. We must progress from basic moments to more profound moments or we will fail. The piece of music for this quote is the ridiculously popular Canon in D by Pachelbel. The music starts out quite basic and simple before progressing to mare and more complex themes. It is the map to accomplishing what Whitman is recommending. The piece of art is I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold. Again, this starts with a basic theme, the number 5 and then progresses from there.