White 1 Tristan White Composition Mrs. Howe December 20th, 2012 Carpe Diem For All Carpe Diem is the idea of living life to the fullest, such as doing things that people don’t normally do, giving up free time to help children in need, celebrating each day we are alive, appreciating our rights and opportunities. People do these things because the chance has arisen. Many people believe in Carpe Diem for bettering themselves or just improving their quality of life. Speaking for oneself would be another example of Carpe Diem because no one can say what they think about things in your life; They can only speak from their own positions. Some people wouldn’t be themselves without Carpe Diem, because some people just live life to the fullest and do everything they can and want to do. Carpe Diem is shown in everyday text we see everyday of our lives. One example of Carpe Diem is a line from a poem called Courage by Corey Fauchon. “ Courage is what makes us” (Fauchon). This line talks about having courage allowing someone to create Themselves how they want to see themselves, like the idea of Carpe Diem. Carpe Diem does change lives if followed; taking charge of the day can better themselves and their lifetime. “Courage is what divides us” (Fauchon). No one is the same; No one is exactly alike, and everything they know, and like, and even love in their own lives. Carpe Diem is living their life to the fullest not living someone elses life. “Courage is what drives us” (Fauchon). Some White 2 people might think it is easier to avoid the Carpe Diem ways, and they may have to force themselves to try, but seizing opportunities can be simple to live to the fullest if people want to. “Courage creates news” (Fauchon). Some people who go above and beyond the common expectations show up on the news because they stand out and Carpe Diem allows them to do more than the common people would try. “Courage makes us free” (Fauchon). Carpe Diem separates people from the rest of the common group of people, and helps make people stand out, makes us all different. “The Road Not Taken”, by Robert Frost, also shows Carpe Diem, the writing from a certain point of view. Some people can look at the writing as just a poem, by some person, others do not. “Two roads diverged in a wood” (Frost). One road is the road everyone takes and the second is a road that is less common. Frost takes the second road in the poem but for most people the first is the road most traveled. Many people choose the common road and avoid seizing the day, maybe because they are scared or because the do not want to face the discomfort of the unknown. “Had worn them really about the same” (Frost). This line is talking about people who took the path that everyone takes, and how everyone seems the same since they all followed the same path as the one before them, going off of what other people followed is easier than making up their own path for the future as they go. those that follow their own path stand out over others who follow the crowd. Standing out of the common crowd makes them unique, which is important for themselves. For the people who are like the common folk and don’t want to stand out, its very simple not to because following everyone’s footsteps is easily compared to creating their own. To the common people, present day text isn’t Carpe Diem because they don’t live life to the fullest. People do what others do, for Carpe Diem is not a part of their philosophy, White 3 but for those who move their own paths live full and happy lives. Consider these words by Mahatma Gandhi: “Live as if you were to die tomorrow” (Gandhi). People should do everything they can and live to fullest of their abilities because there’s that chance they might die tomorrow. Carpe Diem follows what Gandhi is saying in this line. From boring to exciting, those people stand out overall, because they took the ideal of Carpe Diem into their minds and realized they need to Believe in Carpe Diem to live a happy life. "Learn as if you were to live forever" (Gandhi). What Gandhi is trying to say here is to learn things that could be used for a lifetime. Carpe Diem can be in a learning perspective to teach them how to live a full life. People shouldn’t learn as if they were just learning; They should learn to use that skill in everyday life. Expanding learning with Carpe Diem’s ideas will massively improve human skills and ways of learning new ideas. Carpe Diem is a great way to improve one’s life, and it emerges in everyday texts like music and quotes by famous people. Carpe Diem’s ideas can be moving, and even breathtaking if people only do something that they’ve never done. There's the idea of Carpe Diem living inside of our youth’s music and older generations text that we are bestowed upon us everyday of our lives. White 4 Work Cited Fauchon, Corey. "Courage." Poems. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Dec. 2012. <www.poemhunter.com/poems/>. Gandhi, Mahatma. "Quotes About Carpe Diem." (94 Quotes). N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Dec. 2012. <http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/carpe­diem>.