There is no defining moment!

It feels like I was just saying this a couple of days ago, but the concept of a defining moment seems to be stuck in the atmosphere or something.

Defining moment. Describe a defining moment or series of events that has affected your life this year.

-Kathryn Fitzmaurice

I blame Hollywood. Normally, I’m pretty against blaming the media in general, but the perpetuated idea that life is a series of singularly important and significant moments, that’s a staple for film story telling, right? The hero travels along as the stereotypical 2-Dimensional character, reluctant to take his mantle as a hero either because he’s fed up with humanity or he doesn’t think he’s hero material. Then, in the climax of the film, something huge happens and he’s forced to make a choice, or take action that he normally wouldn’t, and boom. He’s now a hero.

A hero with a defining moment is poorly written.

Why? That’s simple. If we’re defined by one moment, one little instance in a hopefully long life, then we are not very well developed. There is probably a scientific formula that could be applied that will tell us what moments in our life really truly made us who we are, but I don’t buy it.  Someone would probably tell you that something small, that we probably don’t even remember, like buying a pack of chewing gum on our coffee break 10 years ago, probably doesn’t have any impact on who we are. I think that if we take away any of those single moments, it could cause a chain effect that makes us all different.

Yes, I believe in the butterfly effect, especially when it pertains to the human psyche. I think every experience, every moment, defines us. Each new experience brings us more data to compile ourselves with. Each and every little experience brings us closer to completion.

I guess that means I’m wrong. Its not a matter of having no defining moment, its a matter of every moment being a defining one.

photo credit: woodleywonderworks