Point BE

January 14, 2021

To be, or not to be? Even if you haven't yourself read Shakespeare's "to be, or not to be" speech from Hamlet, you've almost certainly heard the phrase. In the speech, Hamlet debates whether to continue living in light of the betrayals he has suffered. This ultimate question of human existence resonates so deeply with people in every time, place, and condition that the line has been one of the most recognized literary phrases in the English-speaking world for 400 years.

Poet and playwright (and computer programmer) John Enright writes a Rhyme of the Day blog that I love. Sometimes the poems raise a question, but sometimes they are recommendations, like this one from December 29, which takes up where Shakespeare leaves off:

"To be or not to be, that is the question."
Go ahead and be, is my suggestion.
You've lots of time to not-be when you're dead,
So while you're living, be, be, BE, instead.

Studying Hamlet in high school helped me recognize that living is a choice. John's poem recommends not only choosing to live, but doing so as thoroughly, as vividly, as we can. But—especially these days—it leads to the next question, HOW. In other words, how do we "be, be, BE" when a pandemic is preventing so very many of the things we typically do, do, DO?

I think the answer can be found in a blessing-of-sorts that a professor I know bestows on his students when they graduate: "My wish for you is that you happen to the world much more than the world happens to you." In other words, whatever we're doing, no matter how mundane, it should be a considered choice if possible... and we should try to live fully in those choices rather than let ourselves get distracted.

Sure, lots of what we're doing these days is unexciting. But we can still live life on purpose. Paying attention to what we are doing, and being fully present with the people we love when we're together, is a lot different of an experience than mindlessly letting history take us from Point A to Point B. In other words, if you're cooking, cook. If you're working, work. If you're playing with your kids, put down the phone and be fully present. You'll be more alive that way.

Of course, a little distraction here and there is important, so choose those deliberately, too. On today's distraction menu, I hereby serve you Sir Patrick Stewart's 1-minute "Soliloquy on B" from Sesame Street. Bon appétit.