If each moment in time is robbed of the context of its preceding and succeeding moments, then we lose all sense of composition
M Sinclair Stevens
In order to evaluate and review the writing software, Scrivener, I experimented by applying a novel template to a chunk of text from my college journals. How easy it was to find a narrative in events that happened long ago, to see the symbols, motifs, and narrative arc.
Milan Kundera says that guided by our sense of beauty, we transform coincidences into motifs and compose our lives. Science concurs. Humans are naturally entranced by patterns, by symmetry, by creating connections in order to impose meaning on random circumstances.
From a distance the patterns are obvious. Was my life so much more interesting then? Now it seems to be only a bunch of stuff that happens, disconnected, lacking composition and, so, lacking meaning.
The arc of a story is easier to see when one knows both endpoints of the arc. Living in the middle of a life, in the middle of the story, it’s difficult to see where it is going unless there is a clearly defined goal. If we don’t know how the story ends, it’s hard to know what the story is. Stories rely on transformation, a change of state, an evolution of one’s own character, a change in one’s circumstances or scene.
Identifying the change of state is easier to do in some parts of life than others. Everyone has his coming of age story. Some of us experience a sudden change in circumstance: loss of a job, birth of a child, a country torn apart by war. Others overcome adversity: surviving an accident or illness, coping with the death of a child, struggling to achieve a goal. A change of state forces us to examine all we’ve taken for granted.
We are often advised to live in the present moment. I find that idea repulsive because you cannot observe process, change, in a single data point. If each moment in time is robbed of the context of its preceding and succeeding moments, then we lose all sense of composition. A single note is not music. The beauty and meaning of each moment is apparent only in relationship to every other moment; as part of the puzzle and pattern of one’s life.