‘You owe to yourself to do something remarkable with your life’

As you may have noticed, I am definitely one for a good quote, and the one above stuck deep. I read it over a year ago in New York; the quote was framed and hung from a piano on wheels, which a skilled local pianist was playing – his sweet music flowed effortlessly along a street in South Street Seaport. He had decided that throughout the summer of 2012, he was going to wheel his piano to various locations across NY and busk – just himself, along with his dog, piano and wise words of wisdom.

Naturally, I think we all aspire to be able to achieve this – to look back over the years and really believe that we did do something remarkable. With the recent news of Nelson Mandela’s deteriorating health, it made me consider how remarkable he is. I confess, I knew very little about him until recently when I started doing some research into his life, and whilst researching I found this:

‘In October 1963 Nelson Mandela joined nine others on trial for sabotage in what became known as the Rivonia Trial.  Facing the death penalty his words to the court at the end of his famous ‘Speech from the Dock’ on 20 April 1964 became immortalized:

“I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”’

Source: http://www.nelsonmandela.org/content/page/biography

His actions were remarkable – he was in prison for 27 years, fighting for what he selflessly believed in. I cannot comprehend that length of time – that is longer than I have lived – nor Mandela’s ability to keep spirit and motivation for so many years. But he was richly rewarded, by becoming the first black President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, as well as being responsible for removing the pro-apartheid government in South Africa.

It is clear that everyday people live in the shadows of such greats – there are only a certain number of people that can be Presidents, who can be the drivers of change, and who succeed. However, we can still be remarkable in our own way (and I am not trying to preach here, even though this is how it sounds!), by striving for what we believe in, by being moral and true to ourselves and embracing change for the better.

‘You can’t repeat the past? Why, of course you can.’

‘You can’t repeat the past? Why, of course you can.’

This statement of Mr Gatsby’s is fairly familiar, following the hugely publicised release of Baz Luhrmann’s film ‘The Great Gatsby’, and I suppose this appears that I am jumping on the band-wagon hype that is currently encircling F. Scott Fitzgerald’s most popular novel.

I probably am.

But the novel does definitely raise some interesting questions about repeating the past, and so it made me think. I, personally, would not want to repeat the past, unlike our dear friend Jay Gatz – after all, I want to go on and see what’s ahead not stay behind with something where you know what’s going to happen – because you have been there before.

Naturally, the concept of the past and looking back appears throughout literature (I am afraid this post will be a fairly literary one, but I am not trying to be pretentious, promise!) – I read in ‘Brideshead Revisited’ by Evelyn Waugh the idea that “These memories which are my life – for we possess nothing certainly except the past – were always with me.”

This concept I actually find much more interesting that Gatsby’s idea; I had never really considered that the only thing in life that is certain is what has already happened. And I think that is true. At the moment I feel like nothing is really certain; even down to me going to university in October – which I really hope to and want to do – all depends on a succession of events going exactly as planned so that I arrive in my new halls in late September all ready and rearing to go.

I suppose that’s part and parcel of life – living with the constant unknown. Which brings me to another quote (I promise this is the last one) ‘"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door," he used to say. "You step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to."’ This, as you may have guessed, is in both the film and book ‘The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring’ (which I confess I have not read, but I have watched the film, honest), and I think this actually sums up my whole point; life is full of unknown, and I suppose there is definite security in ‘repeating the past’ because you know exactly what will happen next.

Yet, I personally think the unknown makes things all the more exciting, and actually makes me more motivated to try things, in the ignorant hope that something’ll happen.

So no, Mr Gatsby, you are definitely wrong, you can’t repeat the past, and I think it’s a jolly good thing that we can’t, old sport.