Repetition

"Repetition and recollection are the same movement, only in opposite directions; for what has been recollected is repeated backwards, whereas repetition properly so-called is recollected forwards. Therefore repetition, if it is possible, makes a man happy. whereas recollection makes him unhappy."

This passage really jumps out at me lately. What Kierkegaard calls repetition and recollection could just as easily be referred to as living and remembering. Living or doing is a happy experience, remembering is an unhappy one. To be happy, we must stay in constant motion, we must keep our heads facing forward and our attentions focused on the future.

Life is a down escalator; the minute we stop our legs moving forward, life begins to draw us backward. My metaphor sounds vaguely Bergsonian, I know, but it isn't. Actually, it's anti-Bergsonian, if anything. The world isn't evolving into something better, its retreating into chaos. Active participation in life is the only thing that saves us from this despair. Human interaction with the world keeps the universe from collapsing on itself.

Memories are of two types. Those things that we cannot change and those things which we cannot possess again. Intimate acquaintance with either is a painful experience. Movement is life, stillness is death. Memory is a killer and reflection -- or shall we say over-analysis -- is the Devil himself.