Celebrate the Temporary...

When I was in fifth grade, my art teacher, Mrs. Hinsch, showed us a clay medallion she had made which said "Celebrate the Temporary". Being as I was only 11 and completely ignorant of such heady philosophical psalms, I blew it off as just being "goofy".


But as I grew older, I came to realize just exactly what that means. With the execption of rocks and air, everything is temporary. Especially us. In the terms of the cosmos, our lives barely register as a fraction of a second, if you're to believe Carl Sagan's "Cosmic Calendar."


So our lives are temporary in that they come to an eventual end... which means that everything we experience is temporary. The State Championship we win this year becomes next years 0-18 season. This month's "Employee of the Month" award quickly leads to a pink slip and unemployment the next.


Even relationships are temporary... when they get to "til death do us part" in a wedding, it shows that even marriage is set up to be temporary. Because it ends when we do (ideally). So all this talk about temporary things is pretty depressing, right?


To be blunt... a little.


But the nice thing is that we can celebrate the temporary. Lives, friendships, relationships, that dream season, awards. We can take comfort in them and the feelings we get from them. And when they're gone, there's usually something (or someone) to take its place. When one thing ends, another begins.


So tonight, I raise my glass.... to Celebrate the Temporary!