Revisiting my first post . . .

Revisiting my first post: 

I guess it's safe to say that this blog was started nearly 2000 years ago by a man named Quintus Horatius Flaccus, better known as Horace.

Carpe diem is Latin and usually translated "seize the day."  It's taken from book 1 of the Roman poet's work Odes (23 BC).


Carpe translates "pick or pluck" used by our blogger friend Horace to mean "enjoy, seize, use, make use of".   Diem means "day".


Now, let's turn the page to 1989 when I was first introduced to Carpe diem.  It was in a darkened movie theater watching Dead Poet's Society (written by Tom Schulman).  It's about English teacher John Keating (played by Robin Williams) who inspires his students at the fictional elite conservative boarding school Welton Academy to look at poetry with a different perspective.


On the first day of school, he invites his students out of the classroom and to an unorthodox place -- the trophy cases in the halls.  After reading from a few selected poems, he has the boys peer into the cases and makes eye contact with the photos of past students long gone.


John Keating: They're not that different from you, are they? Same haircuts. Full of hormones, just like you. Invincible, just like you feel. The world is their oyster. They believe they're destined for great things, just like many of you, their eyes are full of hope, just like you. Did they wait until it was too late to make from their lives even one iota of what they were capable? Because, you see gentlemen, these boys are now fertilizing daffodils. But if you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Go on, lean in. Listen, you hear it? - - Carpe - - hear it? - - Carpe, carpe diem, seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary.


"Carpe diem" echoed in my soul for weeks.  I bought the movie poster, a "Carpe diem" coffee mug, I even bought a "Carpe diem" ring.


Unfortunately, like many mountaintop experiences and echoes, it faded away -- and I lost the ring last year. 


Where do echoes go?  Every once in awhile, mine would whisper to me again, "Carpe diem."  Perhaps it was always there and I just wasn't listening.  Or perhaps I wasn't using the phrase and taking action.


Which brings me to today (again, a year or so later from this original post).


I've always found acronyms to be a terrific tool for remembering more complex thoughts and ideas.  What about an acronym for CARPE DIEM?  What about a tool for seizing the day and turning whispers into extraordinary experiences?


I invite you along for the journey, to listen to your whispers, to share, to be encouraged, and to encourage others, to Carpe, carpe diem, seize the day, make your lives extraordinary.


Carpe diem Life,

David Kuhn