Thinking in perspective

Sometimes you have to put things in perspective...

How many of you can name a fact from fifty years ago? Many, I imagine. How about from the beginning of the last century? I'm sure some of you will think of something, even though it has to be important, like the sinking of the Titanic, in 1912. And of the previous century? Photography produced the first permanent photograph in 1826. What about two centuries back? three? The further back we go, the bigger the event needs to be for us to remember.

But lets think of a closer circle. How much do you know of your parent's life? How they met? And before that? And your grandparents? And how they met? Their previous girlfriends or boyfriends? Their childhood friends? How many can you name?

And of your great grandparents? Can you name anything further than their name? Their job? Some hobby? Their favourite colour? Someone may.

What about further back?

In the end, the percentage of people that trascend in history are minimal. The majority of facts that seem vital today, in some time (more or less time) will be of no importance whatsoever. Nothing of what we say or do will mean a thing in "the big picture". We have a major influence in all that surrounds us now; and our actions have major repercussions today, now, here, with the people that surround us.

They say we can join two people from anywhere in the world with less than 10 levels. I've found something like it in Xing. Almost any person in Xing is less than 5 levels away from me.

Where I'm going with this is that sometimes, to see the big picture you have to look at the details.

Lets think of the the world we know today and what it will be like in 2 or 3 centuries. We don't even need to imagine what the society will e like nor what the world will be like. None of that matters. If we could ask the people there, how many would remember Zapatero or Rajoy or Bush o any other political figures from today? How many writers will they be able to name? How many bands? With they be able to name the Pope? And what of us? Who from us will they remember?

And within our own families? n 4 generations, will they be able to name our favourite colour? The music we liked?

In the end, the only thing that counts is how we live today, for us, taking into account the people around us. Always looking towards the future, yes, butthe future doesn't exist, nor do we for it. Nor for the past, either. The past is gone. we musn't forget, but learn, but the past cannot rule us.

This is what Carpe Diem means. This is what it is to live today, to live now.

... but... Is there really any other way to live? In the end, no matter what we do, in 3 centuries, no-one will know we ver existed, so, worry about what really matters...