Seize the day

Carpe diem. Seize the day.

When Horace, and, later, Martial, shared the same obsession, life expectancy was much lower than now, and the majority of Romans died in their prime, long before what we would consider old age. Life was uncertain. Famine, war, disease all came unexpectedly and seemed unstoppable.

All the more important, then, to make sure that every hour was packed with 60 minutes of living. Not for them the dull satisfaction of existing. They had an urgency which isn't uncomfortable today.

Neither Horace nor Martial felt that he wanted to bet too firmly on tomorrow, and did not want to postpone experience, achievement, friendship, pleasure.

This particular carpe diem hangs in my hall. It's a great reminder (if I needed one !) that life is short, and time is not there to waste. Larkin talked of the 'forgotten boredom' of his childhood, and later of 'time torn off unused', and he fervently wished to avoid both.

I wasted too much of my life on the illusion of achievement at work, and not enough on the reality of living a joyful life.

Carpe diem reminds me that enough is enough. Wasting days is a luxury I can no longer afford (if I ever thought I could). 'As if', said Thoreau, 'you could kill time without injuring eternity.'

Exactly so.