Dancing in the streets

"If I ask you what you did, saw, heard,smelled, touched, and tasted yesterday, I am likely to get nothing more than the thin, sketchy outline of the few things that you noticed, and of those only what you thought worth remembering ( Alan Watts,pg. 101) ." Most of you have noticed by now that I have a bit of a curiosity that continuously rears its head just when I need to focus on school, work, or anything deemed important by society.

My curiosity for the things unexplained, or the taboo topics of the self and the universe has been encouraged by a multitude of individuals. Most of which I have met over the past few years. One of these individuals is a close friend of mine whom we can refer to as T.C. This friend of mine not only sends books my way, but he seems to have an innate knack for finding videos that I end up binge watching In between my classes.

One of my favorite books thus far is, "THE BOOK: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are" , by Alan Watts.

Watts often asks questions in his books that prod the reader into deciding, at that moment, whether they agree or not with his statements.

I realized this last night, as I was laying in bed desperately urging my mind to flip the off switch and get some rest. This quote popped into my mind. So I asked myself that very question, I challenged myself to remember every aspect of my previous day. From my thoughts as I first heard my alarm clock. To the cold gust of wind that fluttered through my open window as I left my bedroom.

I thought of the smell of the pancake mix, and the drops of flour falling from my fingertips. The sound of the car racing by my small apartment, and the wind touching the nape of my neck as I left home.

The farther into my day I got, the more I realized that I could remember less and less of the sensations, the thoughts and feelings that all played such a huge part in my perception of the world.

It was then that I realized what Watts was trying to say.

As human beings we spend our entire lives worrying about a future that we never truly get to experience because we are never really living. We are simply preoccupied with the movement of time.

When is the last time you were sitting outside of the doctors office, or in class, or in a line at the DOL, and caught yourself wishing time would just "hurry up already " .

How many times have you stood in that same position and ignored the people surrounding you, maybe the music playing on the speaker, or the simple quietness of the moment. Simply because you were in a rush to get to the next big moment in your life?

Why do we continuously choose to live in the so called "big" moments in life?

Now picture this....

That feeling that you get every time you find your self surrounded by your family and friends , hearing them sing happy birthday to you. That joy, that pure enjoyment and peace... You could have that in every moment of your life...

Just connect to the world, connect with the people sitting next to you at that doctors office, or in the line for the DOL.

Don't be afraid to be that one person dancing to music blaring over the loud speaker. Make every second of your life worth remembering.