Moments and Seconds

My daughter asked me yesterday, "What is longer? A moment or a second?" Temporarily thrown off by the question, I was at a loss at how to respond. My husband supplied, " a second is shorter." Yes, yes of course. Slowly, I pieced together an answer, talking as I went. It is measurable after all. A moment can be a year...a month...a few days or a cluster of seconds. When I look back at a period of time, I reflect on that chunk of time being a moment, a coordinated series of days or minutes that are held together by the memory we hang onto for a reason. A moment is only measurable in words or by the unspeakable by one or a particular group of people that happened to experience a span of time exactly the same way. It is either a fateful one or a significant one. A meaningful glance, murmured words or a realization that dawns on us as we witness something that stands out. It is a way of remembering a time, a still photograph in the midst of a motion picture.

The second is here whether there is a moment happening or not. A regular beat of time continues along to add up minutes and hours and days and years. Moments on the other hand, rise up in relief against the monotone drip drip drip of counting time.

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Writing it out.

Since 2020, I have written the following: -grandiose grocery lists (written on an empty stomach) that often end up getlting left behind at home -funding proposals -delicately worded emails -harried Whatsapp messages -a slew of facebook messages (that basically kept me alive) -a tinder profile or two... -utilitarian text messages -heart felt text messages -the very occasional love note (on paper) to a friend or a loved one The things I have not written since 2020: -a journal -a multi-page handwritten letter -a play -a sketch -a novel -more than 2-3 blog posts that I didn't even publish -a pros and cons list

Playing School

Proper Cry

Photo Source: thesetingstaketime.com via Stephanie on Pinterest I love to laugh. I love laughing so hard I lose control. I love that release. For this reason and lots of others, I could not wait to see the blockbuster, Bridesmaids last summer. Everyone told me, "you are going to pee yourself. It is so FUNNY." And yes, I almost did pee myself, but I also cried through almost the entire last half of the movie. I did not laugh so hard I cried, I just plain sobbed. I felt really sad watching the story of two friends come to terms with how their friendship was changing. I was really surprised by my reaction after all the hype about how hilarious the movie was, but I knew why. The brilliance of this movie was how life can be so hilarious and painful at the same time. Yesterday, I was on a social networking site and one of the people I follow mentioned that she cried "proper tears" upon reading a story about a woman's tragic childhoo

Growing Versions

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