This Moment

Who 

you are

cannot

 be fully contained

 by what’s happening

to you

 just now.

That’s right!  The moment doesn’t capture all of who you are. Think about it. Are you only who you are, when you have one of the mini-rants, you go on, when you are confronted by the political divisions of our times. Of course not! Nor are you solely like you are, when a baby is around. Humans are such complex beings, that no moment can fully capture the wholeness of our being. So, your worst moment, only says a little bit about you. Maybe enough, for some people, but never very much. Beware of judging on too little information.

I mention this, because too many of us fall prey to this tendency, for quick and too simple judgement. This is another of the ways that speed can be damaging. This is the most negative form of reduction. All too often, it is one of the sins we commit with ourselves. We are not just what we did with our last insensitive move. So, it’s time to let ourselves off of the hook. Knowing oneself means, knowing what runs deep and consistently, inside. The moment rarely catches our wholeness.

Yes, the moment is extolled. Certainly, there are people who, at times, are unable or unwilling to come into the moment. But, too many of us are defined by a moment. Getting into the moment, and getting out of the moment, are real skills,  that are more complex than many of us realize. The moment can be a trap. Don’t get captured by it! But, do find your way to it.

There are intimate, desperate, funny, defining, harsh, loving and liberating moments. They are all fleeting, and all deeply involving. They capture so much, and so little. Life is a parade of them. Enough of them, and you have a tendency. Then, you can start having a response. But, until then, watch out, they only give an impression.

The moment can be sacred. Transcendent too. In it, one can die. It is ephemeral — can be transporting, and enlightening. But, the moment can also trick and mislead. The moment can be eternal. It is what one makes of it. So, be careful.

In a moment, you will realize that this moment isn’t what you think it is.

This is a fair warning — that abuses the moment — to reflect some of it’s joys and limitations. It is a momentary reflection upon the moment, a comment on a complexity that can paint a lifetime.

Enjoy the strange, everchanging moments left you.