It is claimed that we should live in the present and leave the past behind when technically there isn’t a present. Time rolls on past like a train and we only catch glimpses of moments as they pass by.  It may sound strange to say it, but to say we are living in the present, we can only be referring to the recent past. Having a good present is the act of guiding the passing of time to certain good outcomes we enjoy as it slips by. 

Our mind’s responses to our body’s senses are really the good we are seeking. Memories are simply a way to bring those the feelings of awe and inspiration back. The present consists of the most immediate and fresh memories of immediate responses. 

Cameras and videos can record a portion of  light reflections during immediate moments, so in addition to the dim picture our mind produces of a memory, we have a vivid color picture of the memory to run through our sight and hearing again. We want to get the good feelings back from that moment again and again. As the current moment slips by, through media, we can insert these past moments into it again and again. 

With poetry and art, a person can put more of these feelings into images of words and paintings for people to view. Theaters give ways to enact what a playwright or a writer put in words to do invoke certain feelings. Sight and sound are combined and steered to produce the feelings the particular writer wanted produced. Our own videos exist to bring back feelings we had when enjoying our friends and family. Paintings can preserve the feelings of an artist in an image. With poetry, the river of words that describe how we feel are preserved to make those passions available to enjoy in the present any time someone reads them.