By Jack Joseph

I needed to get this out of my head and onto the page, so that I would be free of the weighty burdens of work and pleasure.

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This is not for a prompt. This is not for any external reason. I am writing this for a selfish purpose. I am writing this for me.

I have come to the conclusion that one of the most insidious inventions of mankind is the calendar. Yes, it allows for long-term planning. Yes, it provides a definitive schedule so that we may structure our lives and partition out our time. Each and every one of us has been able to make long-term plans because of calendars. However, it puts a person into entirely the wrong mindset.

By allowing ourselves to plan and schedule and divide up our limited time on earth, we lose the ability to exist within the moment. I have often woken up in the morning and seen my day, nay, my week disappear into my planner and become a slave to the plan that’s written on my white-board. The overwhelming sense of everything that needs to be done piles on top of me and weighs me down. A sense of finality overcomes me and forces me to continue onward because the work I am doing now is only a small portion of the great calamity awaiting me, even though I know that in the moment I have one and only one task that needs to be done. I wonder if you know it. Have you ever been quietly doing your homework, when you feel that you are not doing enough? That you need to actually take on the pile that stills waits vigilantly for you, and that what you are trying to finish now is not worth your time? You know that the mountain begins with a small pebble, but that small pebble just doesn’t seem to do any good once you’ve removed it.

We all know about procrastination. Mine takes form when the journey ahead is too long to ever seem to be done. Why begin when I know there is no end? I will be able to finish this project or that essay, but why should I bother when I know that there is another waiting on the horizon?

But I find myself on a tangent. My issue is with long-term planning. We are always in this moment in time. The present is all we know. The future is a vague idea that keeps us from truly grasping the singular moment and taking advantage of what we have. So why do we plan into the hazy distance? Is it so that when we reach that point in time, we will enjoy ourselves, or find peace, or do something worthwhile? Why can’t we begin to do so now? I acknowledge that some things need to happen when the world is in a particular instant (the seasons, for example), but we divide our time between work and pleasure. Again, I ask why. Do we work hard to feel pride in ourselves? Is it so ingrained in our being to separate pleasure and labor that we must congratulate ourselves on forcing something to happen against our will?

I don’t know. I don’t expect to ever know. I expect to live out the rest of my days fighting my instinct to plan and partition my days. However, I will always fight. I will always try to remain within the moment and enjoy where I am right now. I don’t want to be in a state of constant fear of what is to come. I need to remain solidly in the present and control the anxiety of not being 100% certain on what is going to happen to me. If it consumes me, there will be no way to see life as the beautiful gift that it is. Life is meant to be enjoyed. I am not saying “ignore the consequences.” Obviously one needs to remain a reasonable and sensible person. All I am saying that one should embrace who they are and live life to the fullest extent possible. It’s too much of a hassle to be anxious all the time. We need to enjoy what is happening today and what is happening right now. It’s funny; I was worried about reading this and opening up this much to everyone. But why? This is who I am. It would be far worse to hide my true self. So I’ll say it again: go out and live. Embrace the moment. Take it from me: life is magnificent if you can stop worrying about what may or may not happen and simply take a step back and enjoy the view.