As a current pre-medical prospect, I have many roles: student, brother, amateur tennis player, friend, club president. I try my best to do well in all. However, I realized that although I love all of these aspects of my life, I find that finding time for introspection to be very difficult.
In life, some moments define us; moment which we remember for the rest of our lives. One's first time being in love, another's the first day in college. These obvious life-changing events are arguably never forgotten due to the emotional arousal associated with them. However, the little moments we forget should also be valued to the same degree. These moments – usually from meditation- provide an opportunity for us to grow as humans. Through these moments, we can streamline self-awareness through our busy life and day.
What constitutes a moment? We have had those point in life where we feel calm, at ease, in peace. We tend to overlook those moments, without realizing the mental health benefits of those moments. These moments allow us to diverge into a trance; however, it is important to differentiate moments from an escape. An escape is a behavior-driven by avoidance of an unwanted situation; while moments occur randomly but can be driven by a specific state of peace. Many individuals engage in avoidance behaviors, putting aside all the life's stressor compressing them until they explode. Moments allow us to slowly and gently release that pressure without an explosion involved.
The technological advances of our age create an inhibition on the moments we might feel. In our age, capturing moments trumps living those moments. Our first intuition when we find a moment is to take a picture or a video. I am very guilty of this dilemma and therefore understand the motivations driving the behavior. To grab a moment, we must be willing to accept and embrace the now. During our childhood, we understood this concept, we would talk to our best friends about our future and dreams; without the intention of checking on Instagram or Facebook. I remember my friend and me writing a poem and revising it countless times, so I could read it to my childhood crush. In retrospect, what I value most about that memory was not the success of our "perfect" poem but rather the effort and amount of time we utilized to complete the poem. The poem was the goal; however, the journey was truly the priced possession. Although I do not have any picture or video evidence of that event, every time I recall it, I find myself back at that specific point in time doing that specific thing.
To understand ourselves, we must be willing to take a break from the distractors of life; especially those of technology. A simple walk in the woods for 30 minutes allows us to realize how intricate our planet is. A simple stare at a beach can allow us to perceive the cyclical nature of stress and life. A long late-night conversation with your close friend can allow us to ascertain that we are not alone in this Quotidien memoir that is life. The moments are different for everywhere the only common trend is that we all need them.
