Each slow flake has its own intricate pattern that varies in size and shape. | Photo credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
I I love watching the snowflakes fall in all their glory. Living in a place where it’s almost impossible to see them regularly, my fascination is insatiable. I watch them, once in a while, on pre-recorded videos.
Each slow flake has its own complex pattern that changes in size and shape depending on the temperature and amount of available water vapor as they develop. Is it any wonder that no two snowflakes are exactly the same, even though almost all of them are hexagonal in shape?
Snowflakes remind me of the transience of time and our own mortality. Our lives are full of those little transitory “now” moments. While snowflakes are visible to the naked eye, our “now” is invisible. If we don’t consciously try to capture these “nows” and make them unique to us, they will be lost to us forever.
It was Emily Dickenson who said, “Forever is made up of Nows.” Life consists of a series of passing “nows”. It’s a desktop workspace that allows us to build the life we want, moment by moment. Therefore, it pays to keep it clutter-free. Here, clutter is not something physical that we can pick up with our hands and throw away. It is in our worrying thoughts about the future or in our brooding mind that keeps going back to the past.
Focusing on the past makes me nostalgic or sad, and thinking about the future often makes me tense. Not dwelling on the past or the future seems almost impossible, even when I realize that the “present” is the only place I have some control over. It is therefore paradoxical that the only position of control is lost in the constant drifting back and forth. Perhaps there is an evolutionary reason for this.
Our brains evolved to avoid risk by prioritizing survival over everything else. For early human beings, safety depended on avoiding constant threats such as predators, poisonous plants, and risky situations requiring our brains to be in a constant state of alertness. This is one of the reasons why it was difficult and dangerous to keep our attention fixed on one and only thing for a considerable period of time. In the relatively safe environment of the modern world, where our brains are required to focus more than lack attention, we find ourselves in deep distress.
It takes practice and focused effort to free ourselves from the mind’s default settings so that we can reap the benefits of not only enjoying the present moment, but making the most of it by channeling it to create a desired future for ourselves.
Mindful living allows us to make the most of the present moment, no matter how mundane the activity we engage in. It is possible to extract the maximum juice from each moment by bringing all our senses to the fore to experience the activity in all its glory.
For example, when we brush our teeth every day, we can fully devote ourselves to this activity and focus on the feel, smell and taste of the toothpaste. This would allow us to reach every crevice, nook and cranny of the mouth, making it feel like a vast place, and it would give us a sense of accomplishment by allowing us to breathe the freshness it truly requires. When experienced from heightened awareness, even the most ordinary person can achieve extraordinary beauty.
By taking care of our present, we can make our past memorable and our future meaningful.
rao.sujathap@gmail.com
Published – March 1, 2026 0:04 AM IST
