There is a teacup that rests on one of my monitors. I keep it there to remind me of this: "through tea, recognition is given that every human encounter is a singular occasion which can, and will, never recur again."
If I was an inventor, I would dedicate my life to creating a sensory holographic camera. The photograph would be taken to freeze a moment, and then I would enlarge the capture to become life-size. I'd enter that moment at will, to remember it perfectly. The breeze, the heat of the pavement, smell of coffee, pitch of a voice, scratch of a sleeve, height of a building, scamper of a spider, light against the railing, wrinkle of a napkin, the youth or age of the day...
I also realize that the virtue of Time is that she is in constant motion, unending, pristine, sublime. There would always be decay in the trick of a camera. Particles would fray, textures would rot, and the moment would lose its value. The more photos I have in my album, the less the collection means. Imagine being lucky enough to have your portrait taken in the early 1900's. There might only be that one image of you - how precious that image would be! And now we pilfer moments with every snap of the shutter. How greedy and horrid and human.
How much better is it to rely on memory, instinct, and subjectivity? How lovely is it to shelve an encounter near your heart instead of on your coffee table?
This morning I'm overlooking a bright blue sky, slicing shadows into the mountain with crystal precision. The world is still and the street is too shimmery to look at. The space heater is smoking my ankles. The Holiday Frog is draped over the other monitor. Papers and junk mail surround my desk, the post-its have slowly been returning to my line of vision - one has a lyric from The Cure, "You finally found your courage to let it all go." I like that one the best. An empty, red coffee mug. A stack of receipts. Acrylic paints. Packing supplies. Notebooks. Lists. Matchbook. The smell of vanilla body lotion and patchouli oil. A dry throat. Sleepy eyes. Jittery fingers. Happiness. Optimism. Hunger. Typing.
