daily prompt · Writing

Van Halen Said It Best

Amy

Do you spend more time thinking about the future or the past? Why?

What’s wrong with staying in the moment, in today? It’s the only day in which I can do anything. If I’m thinking about yesterday or tomorrow, what am I getting done today?

There are a few sayings about this topic. One is: “Don’t look back you’re not going that way.” Another is: “The future is a gift, today is the present.”

Many mental health professionals will tell you to think too much of the past may lead to/can be a sign of depression, and to think into the future may lead to/can be a sign of anxiety.

As a writer, I put myself into a zone which has no knowledge of time. The zone sometimes includes the past, as some of the best material for poetry is mined from the past. I’m not interested in writing about the future, unless I’m working on a fictional piece that involves fictional characters. In my every day life my feet are firmly in the day that I was given.

As soon as I saw this prompt, I thought of Van Halen. I started singing the lyrics, in fact. Below is the verse that my mind went to from the song entitled, “Right Now.”

Hey
It’s your tomorrow
(Right now),
C’mon, it’s everything
(Right now),
Catch a magic moment, do it
Right here and now
It means everything

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Alex Van Halen / Edward Van Halen / Michael Anthony / Sammy Hagar
Right Now (2004 Remaster) lyrics © Capitol CMG Publishing, Royalty Network, Songtrust Ave, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc

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Published by Amy

I love words. And animals. Photography and fedoras. Welcome. And stay awhile.

20 thoughts on “Van Halen Said It Best”

  4. Van Halen, very nice! The prompt reminded me of Duran Duran’s, “Future Past” Part of the lyrics goes like this:
    So don’t you cry
    For what will never last
    Each moment created in time
    It’s all a future past
    That we are living now

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  5. Great post! I remember the video for the song had all kinds of slides saying things like “right now your life is getting shorter while your memories are getting longer” and “right now she is going on with her life“ things of that sort.

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      2. Yes, another blogger thought of the same song for his prompt. He embedded the video on his site (I haven’t watched it). If you scroll my comments, you’ll see the link to his page.

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