Remember to Live
In Harry’s first year at Hogwart’s he discovered the Mirror of Erised, whose reflection gave him a chance to see what appeared to be a living image of he and his dead parents reunited. Having been raised a neglected orphan, Harry spends each day obsessing on his next chance to peer in the mirror. Dumbledore tells him that the Mirror is dangerous for while it “…shows us nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts” … “this mirror will give us neither knowledge or truth. Men have wasted away before it, entranced by what they have seen, or been driven mad, not knowing if what it shows is real or even possible” (Sorcerer’s Stone 213).
Disappointment and loss are a part, perhaps an essential part, of each life’s journey. The process of grieving these losses is also essential. But spending one’ s time obsessing on “what might have been” or “what could be” is to deny the majesty of life – for life only exists in the present moment.
Thank you for sharing this. This scene was always very powerful to me. But since I lost someone close to me very suddenly, which left many “what might have beens,” now I understand Harry much better. I have no doubt that if I looked into the mirror, I would see the person I lost and the happiness we might have had. There is nothing else I would want more than to have him back. Some days my heart still aches. But when I find myself dwelling on it, I remember Dumbledore’s advice. I focus on the good times rather than the loss and I try to make new happiness for myself. That is what the person I lost would have wanted as well. It really does make a difference.
I love this lesson more than many of the others. In a lot of ways, it goes hand in hand with living our lives to the fullest. We cannot focus alone on what could be but is not. We need to look at what we have, see it for the blessing it is (even if it is something difficult, it is all a learning experience!) and make the most of it.
Everything that happens in our lives has the potential to teach us things and to help us become better people. We just have to remember to look at our lives, learn from what is happening, and to live the best we can!
And I just realised that it sounded like I don’t like the other lessons… I just meant that this one is very close to my heart. *facepalm*
Probably the thing that I most value and have the hardest time actually doing myself.
I think this topic also ties in with my favorite quote of Dumbledore’s:
“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.”
That quote always leaves me a bit speechless. His lesson is saying that, though it’s important to have hopes and dreams, you must NEVER forget to live in the present. And that plucks a certain string in my heart.
Oh yeah. the guy’s right.
I used to spend so much time daydreaming, minutes slipping away.
but now I realize what a precious gift the present is; we must all cherish it and the joy of living.
as I once read somewhere:
“the past is in the past. if it’s good, great!. if it’s bad, it’s experience”
or something like that.
go us, go dumbledore, go people who love to live!
Live in the present, or dream of the future.
“This mirror will give us neither knowledge or truth”.
One of my favorite authors is Ken Gire, and he helps me enormously on my quest to become a writer. Thanks to him, I’m able to either truly appreciate books or see right through them now. After this transformation, some things that I look at with these new eyes are revealed to be more than mundane rock–they’re gems of the highest quality. This is one of those quotes.
Examining the past will show you patterns that you never realized. It will give you experience for your next adventure. It will give you strength and comfort when it seems all is lost. However, staring at what you want, or how you think something should have happened, and brooding on it, will not show you the pattern of the fabric of life. It will give you no experience. It will give you no comfort through dark times. How can you understand life through something that life didn’t make happen? How can you gain experience through a mistake that you didn’t make or has never happened? How can you gain comfort through a brooding, wistful wish?
Dumbledore is right–if our eyes must wander from the present, then it is much better to focus on the past than what could have been. If we look toward the future and what might be, let us take the steps in the present to get to that dream, rather than stand still and gaze at that far-off destination.
One of my favorite quotes from the books is “It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.” I try to live by this and I repeat it in my head every day to try to keep on living.
When my brother died in a car accident, I kept saying to myself, “What if I…” or “If only I had…” Almost four years later I realize now that “what ifs” don’t help. Understanding this philosophy has allowed me to accept his death, learn from it, and live.