Some seem to live in the moment. They value it for its present benefits. Then there are those like me who value things better once they’ve passed. For them memory can be just as acute as the moment.

You can turn to memory time and again, even if only for a few seconds. Memory shapes your emotions and your perspective. The moment comes and goes but memory lasts a lifetime. In certain respects it is memory that defines a life and gives it meaning. Memory is to do with evaluation, with how much importance gets attached to events. It cultivates present reality. Memory can be shaped and reshaped, twisted and turned to give a variety of outlook and bring a broad view of experience.

Some attach high value to living in the moment. But it’s not the perfect state. The lower biological forms and inorganic matter live in the moment. Hopelessly so. In large part, a developed consciousness lifts itself out of the moment to scan across the past and future with insight. Knowledge in this sense is rooted in reflective memory.

Maybe neither of these in extreme form is so good. Living in the eternal present too much is apt to be devoid of perspective. Many of the great works of art and invention came from those living outside the moment. But only being able to appreciate something when it has passed is not so good either. It dooms you to discomfort. The middle ground is probably best where memory and moment meet.