by Norma Jean Bishop

Created on: May 06, 2008

Carpe Diem.
Seize the day.

The sun is shining, bees buzzing, and I'm wondering how to pay my bills.
Carpe Diem. I think I'll take a walk.

The kids are begging to be fed and television is beckoning me.
Carpe Diem. I think I'll make a nice fruit salad.

The sewing pile keeps getting bigger. With each additional item, I avoid it more assiduously.
Carpe Diem. Let's take it one button at a time.

I'm going to have to move in a few months but have no idea where to go.
Carpe Diem. "Tomorrow is another day" she said.

The car needs new tires, mom's sick and our Persian cat is losing all her fur.
Carpe Diem. It will all work out. The cat's hair grows in the winter and she sheds in the summer. It's always been that way. She won't let us comb it so let it be.

January 1st. Time for New Year's Resolutions. Plans and promises to make this a better year. What will I do differently this year? Or will I?

Carpe Diem. Put it in the Lord's hands. Let it be.

I wish I had this ability, but I don't. My mind is always traveling between yesterday, tomorrow and might have been. I'm a dreamer. Give me a good novel and I can escape from reality. I can forget where I am and even forget to eat. Or, if I read the newspaper, I can imagine a million scenarios for attacking the world's problems.

My plans are monumental. To create an agriturism, establish an export-import business, earn another college degree, create a theater company. Scaling any one of these down to size, maybe it would be doable. Maybe, though, it would be better to leave these alone and learn to accept what comes knocking at my door.
Carpe Diem.

When I don't have enough ideas for writing an article, I put the job off and before I know it, the deadline has passed. Sometimes Carpe Diem means "don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today." Sometimes it means just the opposite.

I'm a list-maker. It helps me prioritize and remember what has to be done. Without that little list I might find myself at the end of a day, having enjoyed every minute of it in little ways.

My Dad had his own art of Carpe Diem. It was to start each day fresh and early and decide (almost casually) over a good breakfast what he wanted to accomplish. When he was retired, this created a beautiful metaphoric rainbow over every day. Most of the time, he didn't have to think too hard because he knew what was important. He had an eye for the immediate. By late afternoon, he was relaxing before dinner, watching the sunset and then the evening news.

Maybe one day.. Or maybe today?

Learn more about this author, Norma Jean Bishop.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.