In fact, not even moments . . . this week, I got moved in seconds.
Okay - this is probably one of those times when my kids would tell me I'm old, like when they watch me try to use snapchat. (I really hate snapchat, by the way - and not because I think it's any worse or less safe than any other social media platform; it's just because it's not intuitive for me and I'm more a person of words than pictures.) With that disclaimer, a colleague of my sister did one of those 1-second a day videos and it was really cool. (I know they've been around awhile. This is where you get to call me old, now!) I have seen some of these before, but they've usually been 1 second a day of looking at a pet or child growing up or watching a single spot in nature. This was different. This was just a second a day in the life of one man. My sister and I actually got to appear for 1 second on March 30th, the day she released her very cool story collection, Knowing Worth - Personal Impact Stories from Professional Impact Makers. The video-maker attended the launch event.
Being 1 second of this gentleman's (Paramveer Dhariwal's) life is not what moved me when watching the video. It was instead that the one second video gave me two observations which resulted in three conclusions.
1 - ONE SECOND - 1
Something about the one second a day thing makes a person capture the full moment. In reliving this one second, I remembered so much! I knew how I felt, what was going on; goals and fears and thoughts and logistics all came to mind. I remembered the sights and sounds. I remembered the other people that were near us, things that were going well, and disappointments that happened. I even remembered how my feet felt. (I know that last part sounds crazy, but only if you haven't witnessed my obsession with great heels!)
2 - TWO OBSERVATIONS - 2
My first observation was that one second is so much longer than we think it is. Life starts and stops in one second. I could not believe just how much was captured in these 8 months of 1-second shots.
My second observation was just how much LIFE one single person observes and absorbs. I mean, the variance of shot types in Paramveer's video are drastic and massive. Nature and sports and friendships and music and worship and pets and weather and travel and everyday errands and local community and so much more of the whole world. This was all put before just one of the seven and a half BILLION people on Earth in just one of his seconds each day. Holy crap - there's a lot of life happening here!
3 - THREE CONCLUSIONS - 3
My first conclusion . . . based on the ONE SECOND . . . is that we need to work harder at truly observing our lives. Are we recognizing the importance in even the seemingly trivial? What are we missing?
My second conclusion . . . based on the FIRST OBSERVATION . . . is that story ideas are truly limitless. (And stories are the number one tool to connect with others and impact change, but that's another blog.) Think about it. This video shows just 256 seconds out of more than 22 million lived. (There are 86,400 seconds in a day.) And did you not see stories in each shot? Heck, some of the stories had multiple chapters throughout the shots. Tell me you don't write something in your head when you catch the shots at MARKs :13, 1:40, 1:50, 2:33
My third conclusion is based on the SECOND OBSERVATION. I think it would be easy, especially if you're a person who struggles with depression or insecurities, to assume that - since so much life is going on in the seconds - we don't really matter in the big picture. I came to the exact opposite conclusion. I believe that Paramveer's video shows me just how much value each one of us has.
The interconnectivity between human souls is expansive and real. The different parts of existence we experience as individuals and as parts of others' seconds and moments is unequivocally immeasurable.
If one second is so much longer than we think and, in that one second when life and death can occur we have the ability to be a part of someone else's story, what story is it we want to tell?
What do we want that person to observe?
And what if that second were erased? There's something very hopeless about imagining any one of those pictures being replaced with a blank screen.
We all matter more than we can ever fathom.
We have the power, harnessed in single-second increments, to affect the world for good or for bad.
So, don't waste a second.
What are you going to do with that power?
Yours in writing,
Reji