We are often told to carpe diem.
And we should.
We need to seize, pick, pluck, gather, tear off and enjoy whatever the day presents us with.
From a poem by Horace, the complete phrase is ‘carpe diem quam minimum credula postero’, literally meaning “be the least credulous possible for the next day”.
But wait.
We are so busy ‘carpe dieming’ and harvesting the day that we forget to save some energy so we can carpe noctem too.
Carpe noctem has always been the poor relation of carpe diem.
Carpe noctem means seize the night or enjoy the pleasures of the night. According to Wiki it means enjoy the night or literally pluck (or harvest) the night.
Making the most of life’s moments, taking chances, and grabbing opportunities isn’t just a daytime activity.
Every time you jump on social media these days there is someone somewhere telling you to carpe diem.
It’s carpe diem this, carpe diem that and carpe diem the other.
But come on after you have carpe diemed, don’t forget to carpe noctem. We need to seize the night just as much as we seize the day. Life is for living!
Is it possible to carpe diem and carpe noctem? If you like to be tucked up in bed by 10pm then your window of opportunity is only a few hours.
We are warned of burning the candle at both ends and for good reason, it’s not sustainable.
So we have to make a choice. We either carpe diem or carpe noctem.
Go with what takes your fancy. You could carpe diem Sunday-Thursday and then reserve your carpe nocteming for Friday and Saturday, and many people do just that and carpe vinum while they have the chance.
Whatever you decide, it is about making the most of the hours we are given and making sure that we pluck, harvest and reap what we can while we can.
The exhortation to make good use of the night is one that needs a wider audience. Just as the film ‘Dead Poets Society’ popularised the horticultural metaphor ‘carpe diem’, we need another film to come along and do the same for carpe noctem.
At the end of the day, we have just got to seize omnia and garner everything we can.
Seize it all with strength and courage! Carpe omnia vi et animo.