Carpe Diem - Eternity of fleeting moment

John Updike

John Updike is one of the writers I liked when I was in college. I liked him because he cuts out one scene from our daily lives and shows it to us in a way that we feel we should stay where we are for some time, instead of just hastily passing by. But it was also a bit difficult for me. Yesterday I borrowed his book from the library and started reading it. To my surprise, it is not difficult at all. It is rather simply written in a beautiful writing style. I doubt I really understood even 10 per cent of this subtle beauty when I was young. Maybe I knew vaguely that his works had something in common with わび or evanescence of the present moment but now I can clearly see and appreciate the evanescence plus all the more beauty for it.
Passing time has not just aged me but given me something more important; something like a feeling of eternity, eternity of the fleeting moment. Is it Buddhism or Updike? Carpe Diem, Grab the moment.
Updike's writing always reminds me of taking pictures. The scene taken in a picture never comes back again but it gives us the feeling of moment's eternity. Bear this in mind and take a look at this picture!