NICK: I really fancy Ruth, what shall i do?
TIM: This is what you’ll do.
You’ll go in to where she works.
It’ll be a normal day, and you’re sort of testing yourself by looking for an excuse to talk to her. It’s a nothing day in most ways. You’re thinking about some piece of code your writing, or how to improve your bike. It’s just a nothing day
Then you see her.
And she sees you. And she walks right up to you and takes you by the shoulders with both hands
It’s not an affectionate touch, no. It’s a grip. There’s an anger there, and, yes, passion. It’s full of passion
She looks you in the eyes and you look back and you’ve never seen eyes so blue before. There’s a universe as wide as the sky there, and in the centers spinning stars and planets. Enough vast, empty, space for you to be completely lost
Before you can speak she says
“Nick – this is all there is. Me, and you, and now. This is everything. Just us and this moment. And if we can enjoy this moment, really totally live in this moment right now then we’ve won. We’ll be protected for all time against whatever the rest of life can throw at us, because all that life can do is throw more moments at us. And if we can be totally alive in one moment – precisely because it is just one moment, and because though we know it is passing we also know that we can commit ourselves to it fully – if we can do that then we’ll know how to deal with all the other moments that can ever come.
“Nick”, she’ll say, “i need you to help me suck the juice from life, right now, in this moment”
Then
She
Leans
Closer
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