E-Paper
Spice of Life: That incredible lightness of living in the perfect moment
Though perfectionism is seen as an enemy of progress and striving for perfection isn’t conducive to a happy state of being yet focusing on creating perfect moments may well be the key to living a life filled with contentment and calm
Recently on a vacation with the family, sitting by the Arabian Sea, the waves romancing with foam and seashells kissing the sand, coconut trees swaying in tandem, the flora and fauna glittering in glorious robes of vibrant green in the lawns of the resort, I felt refreshed, relaxed and rejuvenated, the three ₹that follow a good vacation. This is the perfect moment, I said to myself, taking a deep breath and recalling the words of Eugene O’Kelly, who explains it in his book, Chasing Daylight. “The perfect moment is an experience with others when time stands still. It is a special time of focused attention and heightened awareness…All that matters is this moment -- the people I am with and the conversation we are having now.”
Philosophers, writers, thinkers from time immemorial have talked about happiness and the perfect moment. The perfect moment is a positive emotion which is in the naive look of absolute trust in your child’s eye looking up to you. When I realised the present moment to be the perfect one, I dwelled deep into the past thinking about so many perfect moments that I had lived through but never fully registered, such as when I held my son in my arms for the first time or I stood at the threshold of my new abode, hands smeared with vermillion as I marked Swastika on the outer wall of the house.
I was experiencing the same feeling now, immersed in the exquisite beauty of the place, watching it with fascination, hypnotised as if it were stroking some sealed vessel in my mind whose bursting would flood me with delight. Ecstasy raced over the floor of my mind and I revelled in that perfect moment, feeling, “This is enough.”
The perfect moment doesn’t have to be any mantra. A perfect moment can be when you look upon a task you have completed to the best of your ability. Success guru Tony Robbins advises all to “manage our state” to “awaken the giant within” and attain the Kodak moment. It can vary from person to person and can be different in different phases of life. For a child, it can be swinging in the arms of the mother, for an adolescent, it can be getting admission in the dream institution, for a youngster it can be gazing in the eyes of the beloved, for a bridegroom, taking wedding vows with the coy bride by his side, in the mellowing years, it can be watching the sunset or sitting in the warmth of the fireplace in winter, reading your favourite author.
Though perfectionism is seen as an enemy of progress and striving for perfection isn’t conducive to a happy state of being yet focusing on creating perfect moments may well be the key to living a life filled with contentment and calm. The perfect moment is not always about achieving a goal but what matters is how you feel about the journey on a consistent basis.
Films, social media, romance and gadgets create the perfect moment and we often escape into them from a sordid world. In fantasy, we partake the joy of such a moment. But we can all create our perfect moments with our eyes wide open and our minds having keen awareness to capture, captivate and crystallise the present perfect moment. These magical moments lie within us, around us in creations of God, in relationships resplendent. Focus on them, create them, they will form an invincible host against difficulties.
That is the oasis we need to nurture and transfix. As work of art, these perfect moments would rekindle joy infinite. Life otherwise sealike mysterious can be made beautiful and memorable by creating islands of perfect moments. It is rightly said, life isn’t lived by breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away.
ritukumar.gmn@gmail.com
The writer is the principal of Mukand Lal National College, Yamunanagar
