Monday, August 23, 2010

Before and After



Trips and meals have Before, During, and After epochs. Before is the anticipation phase enjoyed before a vacation or a good meal. Sandra's table here covers both. A great dinner on a vacation trip.

The During part evaporates as fast as the food on her table. The Before and After are longer and seem to bracket the present forever it seems.

The objective benefits of a meal or a vacation take place after, certainly not before the event. Nutrition does not start by thinking about food. Burned out workers have to take actual vacations, not only book them on the web. The cognitive and experiential value of a trip does not kick in until the trip.

But paradoxically we enjoy the Before phase so much more than the After. The picture of Sandra's table is more enticing than after us locust were done eating.

I for one can't enjoy a great meal or vacation if I know it is the last one.

Da Vinci's Jesus seems to enjoy the Last Supper, knowing though it was his last. But then again Jesus had his deity tickets confirmed, an exclusive vacation spot, especially exclusive for monotheistic faiths (triple occupancy rooms max). The last smoke in death row is known to be the last, but folks seldom come back to tell us if they enjoyed it.

An inconclusive trip it was, as I think that we can either double clutch through life by putting things to look forward to behind each other, or learn to live by Vinicius De Moraes lyrics:

E a coisa mais divina Que há no mundo É viver cada segundo Como nunca mais...