And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years. ~ Abraham Lincoln

Every Second Counts

There is a show on FX called, The Bear, it was a runaway hit last summer in it’s first season. The second season came out to great fanfare and I recently watched it. Forgive me for a brief review of the show on the way to my point tonight. I loved the first season of the show, it was fun and absolutely had an underdog feel to it, the main character, totally flawed, is someone you really want to pull for to be successful. It was a high energy rush of good TV. The second season started out really slow, a few episodes in I started thinking the show hit the typical breakout sophomore slump. I was writing and so I kept watching, the next couple of episodes were higher energy but more of the same. The writers were doing an excellent job of exploring the individual characters, but it felt like a letdown after the first season. Then it started to turn, threads started to come together, there’s no shock where the story is going and that might have been part of what left me unimpressed initially. The last several episodes are magnificent, including an Emmy worthy performance by Jamie Lee Curtis. And let me beg a second apology for another turn not on point tonight.

I have come to love Jamie Lee Curtis, from a nepotistic lead into the industry, she’s the daughter of Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis, to horror movie scream queen of one of the first horror movie franchise Halloween. She’s a beautiful woman, and with a great figure got roles based seemingly on those two traits. There were some good roles, I’m a fan of the movie and her performance in True Lies. In Hollywood, actresses like Jamie Lee Curtis, once they get a bit older and don’t resemble their 20 something selves, roles start to dry up. A lot of actresses lament this, many unfortunately turn to high levels of cosmetic procedures, it’s unfortunate. But I love how Jamie Lee Curtis has addressed this, she’s come at it straight out. For the film Everything, Everywhere all at Once, she insisted they not hide her age. No girdle to tighten up her mid-section, no extreme make-up but generally let the character reflect her 63 year-old self. She’s really great in the film. It was much the same in season 2 of The Bear. She plays a mother with fully grown children, her performance is powerful, intense and emotional, it will flat out break your heart. Here’s a woman who has embraced her age, and over her career has developed her craft to an incredible level, hopefully Hollywood is watching and awards her appropriately, back to the main road.

There is a phrase that underlies the entire second season of The Bear, every second counts. And watching the show that phrase really resonated with me and it’s what I want to talk about tonight. That very simple idea that we live once and we need to make the most of it. There is also something subtle that’s buried in that phrase, the idea of mindfulness, living in and focusing on the moment. This idea also loops back to my post from last week, It’s All About Love. Becoming happier is about learning how to tie these two ideas together. First, knowing and giving your time and focus to those you love, that act brings you both, but really brings them, happiness. Second, understanding and focusing on how precious every single second is kicks up the importance and impact of that time. So it’s not just about making and giving your time, but the second level is about being completely in those moments. This idea, and mindfulness in general, is a really simple and powerful idea, and I can illustrate it this way. When you read a child a story, you have to be completely there, doing character voices, asking and answering questions, being emotionally in sync with their emotions. You can’t be thinking about work and bills and just reading the words, it’s just not the same thing.

So my advice tonight, to follow on from my post last week, making people happy, and by reflection increasing your own happiness, is a matter of giving them your time and attention, but just not that. It’s about giving them your time and attention while being fully there with them, in the moment, making every second count. ~ Rev Kane