Carpe Diem

More than 2000 years ago, Quintus Horatius Flaccus (Horace), a Latin poet, found himself looking rather bemused when he noticed how busy Rome had gotten. His advice was the following: “be smart, drink wine. Scale back your long hopes to a short period. Even as we speak, envious time is running away from us. Take hold of the day, for in the future you can believe in the minimum.”

Life is short, time is fleeting; enjoy now, seize the day. Carpe diem became a widely used theme in the 16^th and 17^th century in love poetry: A well-known example is Robert Herrick’s poem “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time”, because “this same flower that smiles today/Tomorrow will be dying.”

In 2006, Tokio Hotel, a German band, wrote a song titled “Live The Second”. The refrain is stuck in my head: “Live the second/Here and now/Hold it tight/Or else it’s gone”. Although the quality of the lyrics certainly does not meet Horace’s standards, the message has some resemblance: “Sorry but I was just contemplating/But for that there’s really no time/No time.” We are too busy…

Carpe diem is no longer seize the day, but seize it at its fullest, every second. It should not be that surprising that Carpe Diem has become a marketing brand, covering an assortment of high-energy drinks. On its website, the company explains the philosophy behind the name and the products: “seize the day because today is the first day of the rest of your life.”

From this perspective, whatever carpe diem has gained in intensity, it seems to have reduced its meaningfulness. It has become linked with narcissism (an excessive interest in oneself) and hedonism, the latter putting pleasure as the highest good and proper aim of human life. This is the world as personified by Hugh Hefner, the founder of Playboy. But this is my dad’s generation; would people like Paris Hilton and similar “professional party celebrities” qualify?

Fortunately there is an alternative. Although “carpe diem” is commonly translated as “seize the day”, the verb “carpere” literally means “to pick” or “to pluck”. A farmer or gardener picks a fruit or vegetable, he or she knowing when it is ripe. “Plucking” or “picking the day” sounds as awkward as “seizing an apple” but the comparison is relevant because it opens a deeper meaning of carpe diem. “Seizing an apple” means simply taking it, nothing more nothing less; “picking” implies a decision process (choice) which includes some thinking before (knowledge) and accepting the consequences afterwards.

There is nothing wrong to refer to “seize the day” as long as it has a deeper meaning to it. This is precisely the case in the hit movie “Dead Poets Society”, a film that explores the substantive idea of carpe diem from the viewpoint of a classroom of young men at an all boys boarding school. “Carpe Diem! Seize the day, boys! Make your lives extraordinary!” says Robin Williams; character, Professor Keating, in the hope that students will learn to do what they want to do.

Carpe diem really comes down to grabbing opportunities that life throws at you, so allowing one to become a better person. However, I don’t think there is anything wrong, after a tough school year, in enjoying life “the Paris Hilton way” for a week or two, as long as it does not turn into a permanent way of life!

Now that you have read until the end, stop wasting time ;)