Andy Warhol said that we’d all get 15 minutes of fame. To that I say, “Pffft, what’s the point?” If you’re the type that wants fame, having only 15 minutes of it would be cruel at best. Fortunately, fame is not nearly as important to me as experiencing perfect moments in time.
Have you ever experienced one of those fleeting instants in your life when everything seems to come together and you know you’ll hold that memory close at hand for as long as you live? I honestly believe that those are the moments you will see when your life flashes before your eyes. Those brief interludes are when you get to taste pure joy. I have had a few. They always sneak up on me.
One time I was sitting on a lawn chair on a beach in Puerto Rico. The temperature was perfect, and there was a slight breeze. I had no place that I had to be. The surf was rolling onto the shore, and there seemed to be a million stars in the sky. I saw the Southern Cross just above the horizon. And BAM. There I was. In a perfect moment.
Another time I was standing on a rooftop in Istanbul, and all of a sudden all the mosques in the area began the call to prayer as I gazed over the city. It had taken quite a bit to get myself to that city, and yet there I was. Again, a perfect moment.
And then there’s every single solitary time I look at the full moon.
Then there was the time I stepped out my front door and the entire sky was, I swear to God, bright yellow. I have no idea why. And I’ve never seen anything like that before or since. But it was like I was on another planet. Everyone in the park across the street was just standing there, staring skyward. I wanted to take a picture, but that would have meant going inside to find my camera, and I didn’t want to miss a single second of it.
Another time I was swimming in a crystal clear cove in Dubrovnik, Croatia. I have never seen water so pure or a day so fine. Heaven could not be better.
The first perfect moment I remember was as a child in Connecticut. I was sitting on a rocking chair in the living room with all the lights out except those on the Christmas tree. I was in my pajamas and wrapped in a soft blanket. Safe and warm. And I just happened to look over my shoulder just as it started to snow for the first time that winter. Bliss.
The moment I cherish most, perhaps, is the first time I stood at the Craggy Gardens overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway and I knew, I mean, I KNEW this was where I was supposed to be. This was what home felt like. I could breathe. I’ve been trying to get back there ever since.
Who needs fame? If I get 15 perfect moments in time, I’ll consider myself fortunate indeed.
The View from a Drawbridge 
Many more to you. Many, many more.
And to you, dear friend. 🙂
Some wonderful imagery that you’ve portrayed, they certainly do sound blissful. Summing on how wonderful life can be, I feel it sums up our insignificance in the scheme of things and that is surely more exciting to me than being famous could ever be. When people seek fame they expect to feel significant, and I don’t understand that desire. Of course we are significant to the people we love, but what you describe to me is the point in life, to enjoy and savour it and these moments, enjoying the ride.
Enjoying the ride. That’s it exactly. And I never understood the craving for fame either.
What a rich life you have. I feel like a child seeing the world for the first time through your eyes. Thank You.
Thanks Carole! Sadly perfect moments are rather sparse of late as most of them come to me when I travel, and my travel budget is non-existent these days. But who knows what the future holds?
As a person who has had many near-death-experiences, I will tell you that you are correct. When your life flashes before your eyes… and it does… not always the same way each time, but whatever… you don’t thinks about the fancy stuff you bought. You don’t thinks about raises you got, or promotions. You don’t worry about how noticed you were. You thinks about places you’ve seen and things you have done and people you have met.
But I want to be famous for fifteen minutes. Not just once. I want fifteen minutes every day.
I knew it! Those moments are the ones I want to review when I’m heading down that eternal tunnel. And If I could give you my allotted 15 minutes, I would.
I will pay you back when they make my book into a movie.
Just fly me out for the premier and sit me next to Matthew McConaughey.
Easy… because he is going to be playing me… HA!!!!!
Please don’t make him grow a moustache. It would obscure those perfect white teeth.
That is all you have to worry about? Go sit in the back row then. And no free popcorn either.
Sheesh. I’m taking my 15 minutes back then.
Maybe he will let you shave the mustache off. I mean his, just so you know… HA!!!
Booo!
Invite still stands, You ever get a few days off and can survive the drive we are about 40 miles from Knoxville and just a couple hours from Blue Ridge Mtns. A relaxing stop over for a few hours or couple days.
I will definitely keep that in mind! Thank you.