DDA#4 (Daily Dose of Awe) Avenoir: The Desire To See Memories In Advance

We take it for granted that life moves forward. But you move as a rower moves, facing backwards—you can see where you've been, but not where you're going. And your boat is steered by a younger version of you. It's hard not to wonder what life would be like facing the other way…

ETYMOLOGY: From Old French avenir, “to happen” + avoir, “to have.” The difference between these two words touches on a fundamental dilemma in how you manage memories: do you want to live your life, or try to hold onto it? Is each moment just something that happens? Or are they like souvenirs that you collect over time? I’m often torn by the conflicting urges to live in the moment, to put the camera down and soak it in, or to create a good memory—to try to craft your life in such a way that it would make a good story. I still don’t know the answer. I think I try to live in the moment, which makes for more beautiful, meandering, and scattershot memories, but they don’t really fit into an exciting pattern. - Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows