You tell me to live each day
as if it were my last. This is in the kitchen
where before coffee I complain
of the day ahead – that obstacle race
of minutes and hours,
grocery stores and doctors.
But why the last? I ask. Why not
live each day as if it were the first –
all raw astonishment, Eve rubbing
her eyes awake that first morning,
the sun coming up
like an ingénue in the east?
You grind the coffee
with the small roar of a mind
trying to clear itself. I set
the table, glance out the window
where dew has baptized every
living surface.
– Linda Pastan, “Imaginary Conversation” from Insomnia: Poems
Notes: Poem – Thank you Whiskey River. Photo: (via Your Eyes Blaze Out)
Live & Learn 
Wake up with wonder …
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Yes! And keep it going through the day…
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Live each day as if it were the first. I like that!
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Yes, me too!
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I am charmed by this…and will embrace the day accordingly. 🙂 Thx for kicking off my week thusly, pal….
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Especially TODAY!
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How come I never thought of that? To live each day as if it’s the first!
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You have done so many bigger things!
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This here is a game changer!
And thank you my friend. Shifting gears 😊
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Why?
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Because I think it’s brilliant. And speaks to my soul.
Because I feel it is necessary to live like it our first day, everyday. Instead of the other way around.
It’s easier said than done. But I love the idea.
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I have no idea how THAT came to be under your comment…………. I’m most definitely overtired….. 😉
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🙂
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and so we begin again. each day.
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Yep
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How true. Why does living each day as if it were our last make us try harder? Kind of oxymoronish when you think of it..
I think I shall have to print this poem in large font and put it where I can read it every morning. (The large font meaning I don’t need to put my glasses on before 😉 )
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Smiling. I should have it etched into my forehead.
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Ha ha! Then you would have to have it backward, so you can read it when looking in the mirror!
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Now THAT is genius.
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Blows on folded over fingertips and rubs them against upper chest…
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Laughing.
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😉🙃🙂
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David, Dale; in France there’s a saying: Do you see ‘pigeon’ etched onto my forehead?
That’s when somebody takes you for an idiot and you mean to tell them that you see through their scheme!
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Kiki, France’s definition, then, could not be any more accurate.
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….. and still making me laugh out loud, every time I think of it! The lady who helped us (then!) to get established in France, used this expression first and when we meet up we always find a way to make use of this sentence…..
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What a character she must have been.
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Is…. we became good friends and often meet up at Gare de Lyon for a drink and natter before I board the TGV….. GOLD!
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Oh yes, yes, ja…..
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Why not
live each day as if it were the first –
all raw astonishment, Eve rubbing
her eyes awake that first morning,
the sun coming up
like an ingénue in the east?
THAT’s the bit to live by….
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Exactly!!!!
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I live my life one day at a time, just going with the flow of life
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You’ll live a long life!
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I’ve just copied that whole poem and ask HH to print it out at work – is cheaper than etching it on the forehead too! 😉
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Less painful too!
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