The art of being enchanted with the life you have

View from East Rock Park, New Haven, CT. 

    I've heard it exhaustively that the first condition for the good life is to inhabit the present. The Latin appeal “carpe diem” has been with me since I was little and I watched the movie “The Society of Dead Poets”.

    Extracted from a poem by the philosopher and poet Horace — carpe diem quam minimum credula postero, literally, “seize the day and trust as little as possible in tomorrow” — sums up all human ambition. The appeal of Stoic-Epicurean origin teaches that we must enjoy the good in life at every moment, since the future is uncertain.

    Since then, nothing has changed. We humans continue to know that this is the best way to live. What is the recommendation to fight anxiety and depression? “Live today”. Meditation and yoga are prescribed as antidotes against the ills of the hyper-stimulated and fast-paced society. What these practices ask for: focus on the breath, focus on the present moment.

    But why, despite these permanent appeals, do we remain prisoners of the past and the future? What is wrong? What is missing? One fundamental emotion is missing: admiration. It is the basis of love — whether for someone, for an idea, for the present or for the life you have. One might think that this appeal today is unfair. After all, in the middle of a pandemic - confined - all we want is to escape the present. How is it possible not to anchor yourself in the past or dream of the future? Our hobby today is imagining the future. We are glimpsing the enchantment of travel, restaurants, museums, cafes and everywhere that has doors.

    Here is the first obstacle: how to admire the banal, routine life, with bills to pay? How to love today when nothing happens as we would like? How to love with fatigue, with crisis and without perspective? When we think of an admirable life, we never think of our own. We tend to covet other people's lives. Who never thought their life needed a screenwriter? And here we arrive at the stoic solution. The world will never be the way you would like it to be and you have no power over it. The solution is not in the view, but in looking at the view. And it is in this task, it is for this fundamental change that we need emotions.

    When talking about the emotions that make life better, much emphasis is placed on joy and empathy. Very little is said about admiration. Which is understandable. Common sense defines admiration as a pleasant emotion that seizes us in the face of something extraordinary, beautiful or unexpected. But admiration is much more than that. A sophisticated and first-rate emotion, admiration has spiritual, moral and aesthetic components. What is not said is that it does not necessarily have to be random, rare or a matter of luck. It doesn't have to be something that happens to us. Admiration can be rationally aroused and be part of our everyday life.

    We no longer enjoy admiration because we internalize that it is an emotion for special occasions, such as travel. We believe that admiration is only aroused in front of monuments, works of art, exuberant nature or paradisiacal places. What is the emotion that is directly associated with the noblest of the human sciences, philosophy? The admiration. In the history of thought, admiration is considered the first condition of philosophy. This is another misconception: the belief that admiration is only possible in the face of the unprecedented, of what is revealed to us for the first time. After all, who is enchanted by a monument in their own city? Who delights in ordinary, familiar life? Only the extraordinary life is admirable.

    We can admire ourselves every day and even without leaving home. There are a multitude of simple things, in our daily lives, that have great potential for admiration. Just be careful. Example? A book can be an inexhaustible source of admiration.

    Immersed in the universe of the book, we live in a permanent state of enchantment and I didn't want to leave it. And whenever we want to rescue this enchantment, it is enough to reread excerpts from the work.

    When everything changes and you find yourself in a strange and unfamiliar place. Is it possible to use admiration? From the. In the Disney classic, Snow White finds herself abandoned and alone in the woods. It's night, the atmosphere is scary. She is afraid and cries herself to sleep. When she wakes up, she looks around, sees birds, animals and nature in all its splendor. And as she is in a clearing, she feels directly illuminated by the sun. What does Snow White do? Does she recall recent events and resume tears? Does she think about what she will do from now on? Not. She contemplates the beauty of the scenery, kneels down and thanks the universe for having created such beautiful things. She rejoices and her drama becomes more bearable.

    Admiration is not just for great deeds or special occasions; for extraordinary moments or to soften a sadly unsustainable world. It is an emotion for all seasons and scenarios. We need it every day. It must be part of our way of looking at the world. Admiration does not change the world, but it does change the perspective and the way we look at it. Admiration increases our tolerance for uncertainty and helps us to welcome whatever happens to us, whatever it may be.

    Be enchanted by the life that appears before your eyes. Enjoy what you are doing right now — like reading this post on my blog. Enjoy the life you have. Enjoy today.