Everyday Canvas

Blogging and Collecting Moments

Prompt: What are some of your favourite blog entries you have written? I want to hear about them.

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The blog entries I like writing the most are the ones that aren’t about me. Most of them are about writing in some form or shape, and a good number of them are in my older blog "Off the Cuff / My Other Journal" / Although I like to put something of me in each entry, I like the entries that address the more universal themes than the boring me.

Having said that, I can't single out any one entry that is a favorite, and for that matter, any one poem, story, novel, or article that I have written. I guess I don’t deem any one thing a favorite.

Now, going back to July, because of GOT, I didn’t write any entries, but I did keep the prompts in a mail folder. So every now and then, I’ll pick a prompt I missed and write for it, in addition to the present day’s prompt entry.

This is from Day 858 July 14, 2016, sent by Megan.


Prompt: Collect moments, not things. Do you agree?


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I sure do. Happiness is in the content of the moment-to-moment experiences. Even intrinsically valuable things carry a happy memory, which holds an experience in its essence.

Does anyone ever recall what they were wearing or what they owned during a first-time experience, say the first kiss, the first day at school, the first child’s birth? We always recall the experience first, don't we? Experiences always bring more happiness than do possessions, unless it is a possession one has waited and yearned for.

I know some shopaholics who have fallen into the habit of collecting stuff, but then, those things are what they are, just stuff. Although during the purchase, they may have felt some satisfaction, this satisfaction lasts only a short while. Even an exciting purchase finds its way to Goodwill or to a second-hand shop if no treasured memory is attached to it, but the experiences are recalled for a very long time to come.

By spending time and money on experiences that enhance our lives rather than create clutter, we shed positivity and happiness into the world and inside ourselves. It makes me happy that the younger generation has figured out this fact better than the earlier generations. No wonder I like them so much!