CARPE DIEM

Or in Layman’s terms-

SIEZE THE DAY!

Although it’s been around for decades, I believe Robin Williams made it iconic for hapless and confused youth when he so beautifully dissected it through poetry in the timeless eighties film “Dead Poet’s Society.”

It came out in 1989 to be exact. I’ll save you the fact check.

That phrase made a huge impact on my early evolvement in life and has continued to do so throughout my adult years.

What a powerful combination of film production and acting performances that it’s message could stick with a person through their whole lifetime.

One of those classics on a short list of nostalgic films I still watch every year or two, along with The Big Chill, Breakfast Club, St. Elmo’s Fire, and of course- Beverly Hills Cop!

A phrase my best friend Monica and I used to use as our daily mantra in our late teen years.

Lately I’ve been pondering how the phrase has changed for me in meaning and depth over a span of approximately thirty-five years.

At first Monica and I would yell it out to each other as we drove at maximum pace over speed dips to see if we could get my first car, a cute little Ford Bronco, completely airborne! How the axels never fell off I’ll never know. Or when we were both sixteen and worked a summer off high school together at Albertsons Supermarket and would rummage through the Lost and Found for an ID of someone over twenty-one to swipe and take to the local liquor store to purchase a $2.50 bottle of Boone’s Farm Strawberry Hill wine that we would split. Which got us quite dizzy by the way! Must have been the sugar… 

So many years later it still holds the imperative and necessary “have fun” connotation but just on a more meaningful level. It doesn’t just signify choosing happiness for myself but surrounding myself with the people I want to see most happy and who truly support my path towards fulfillment with no selfish gain involved.

After experiencing loved one’s death it means not just thinking how much I adore or love someone but telling them. I am not a fan of looking at the “upside” of death like, “He is in a better place.”

Well, the people still living are not and who wants to hear that bullshit right after they lost a loved one?!

That being said…If I was forced to find an “upside” as I feel I am cause otherwise what is the point of staying positive, I’d say it is for me a shift in priorities, and a deeper connection to fewer people.

Quality over Quantity.

There will be some comedy here! Just let me vent first.

As John Hughes wrote for the beautifully rebellious 1987 film “Some Kind Of Wonderful” starring Lea Thompson and Eric Stoltz-

“I’d rather be alone for the right reasons than with someone for the wrong.”

I was not planning on incorporating the romance classics in this writing piece, but they seem to be significant. And, I am really enjoying it.

It also means protecting myself – cause people say every day is precious, but every day is also a little scary being that I am never guaranteed the outcome I hope and pray for, and I don’t want to waste it allowing my head to get filled with garbage. Either from people, or devices.

It also means some serenity and alone time, which is why I am trying to set some boundaries and distance from my f****n cellular device!

I promised this wasn’t going to be all dramatic…

I might just be paranoid, but I am pretty sure my iPhone hears me cry.

This is common knowledge to all living beings now, right?

I mean it’s overly obvious at this point. If I even type the word “socks” into Google I immediately have fifteen ads for socks in my Instagram feed. The scary part is that now it seems to be going beyond even the crap I just Google or shop for.

Lately I have been getting these ads for Cry Therapy. Which I didn’t even know was a thing. It’s these targeted ads on Instagram of people in a circle, like a twelve-step program, except they are all crying, and at the bottom it says, “Are you tired of crying alone?”

WTF?

My phone was in a TIME OUT in the bathroom after that.

He can come out when he is ready to do something important, like play some music, or reward me some free fries on the McD’s app.

And yes I called it a “he” because it sleeps right next to me, and if it was a woman I’d be getting ads for wine tastings and Botox.

Thank you if you made it this far to finish my rant! Please share if you like and if you want to support my Venmo is always open @jenmurphycomedy xoxo