Sweet and Savory

“Every morning I awake torn between a desire to save the world and an inclination to savor it. This makes it hard to plan the day. But if we forget to savor the world, what possible reason do we have for saving it? In a way, the savoring must come first. “ ~ E.B. White

“Ours is an upbeat, a hurried, hasty beat. It keeps pressing us to go farther, to include everything so that we can savor everything, so that we can know everything, so that we will miss nothing. Partly it’s greed, but mainly its curiosity. We just want to experience it. And we do.” ~ Agnes De Mille

I like Agnes De Mille, and I normally agree wholeheartedly with the things she said…

“To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful. This is power, it is glory on earth and it is yours for the taking. “

and

“The truest expression of a people is in its dance and in its music. Bodies never lie.”

(LOVE that!)

But this quote about our hasty lives… I’m having trouble with it.

I’ve definitely lived a “seize the day” “what would you do if you knew this was your last day” kind of life, welcoming intensity of experience, cramming all the good things and great wonder into a packed existence, all in the name of Really Living.

Which is exactly what Agnes is talking about… but I’m not sure it’s working – not for me, not for anyone…

It seems as if, in a driven Western mind, all of these motivational “make the most out of your days” catch phrases actually compel us to skate furiously on the surface of life instead of allowing ourselves to be fully immersed in… well… anything.

What are we missing because we’re working so hard not to miss anything?

Instead of wondering how we can squeeze every drop of life from our years, what if we ask, as Creativity Coach Jill Blixt does, “What would I do if I knew I had all the time in the world?”

My own list includes things like:

Spend more time with family and friends
Meander through my days at a much slower, more nurturing pace
Study another language until I was fluent
Linger over coffee with loved ones, or even by myself
Dance daily
Take naps
Enjoy where I am at in the moment, without worrying about what comes next
Enjoy the experience of exploring and nurturing relationships without worrying about the outcome

There is so much wonder and beauty and magic in the world, not just in big, mind blowing, life altering experiences, but in subtler, more nuanced moments…. The kinds of moments that we miss when we’re moving so fast…

It’s the difference between running through the Louvre in order to see Winged Victory, the Mona Lisa, and Venus de Milo before lunch and a tour of the Eiffel Tower, and choosing to spend the day sitting and studying just one of Monet’s paintings…

Both have value; there’s definitely a balance to be achieved… but Agnes is right when she says that ours is “an upbeat, a hurried, hasty beat,” a beat that is ever quickening as we feel our breaths slipping away, forever aware and fearful of the limitations of human life.

What if we let go of the limits?

What if our goal was depth of experience rather than breadth?

What if we choose to behave as if there is time enough for everything that is really important?

What if we relish life instead of trying to conquer it?

If we choose to live moment to moment as if there is all the time in the world… what small miracles will we witness, what subtle discoveries will we make, what connections will we deepen, what joy will we savor “to the last drop”?

“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away” ~ attributed to George Carlin