*a 5 minute read*
You can never anticipate what you will see on a platform like Twitter. One of the funniest, controversial, and most dangerous social media apps ever created, Twitter has provided me (and I’m sure many of you) with emotions all across the board. If you don’t have the app, I strongly suggest checking it out for a few days and seeing what it can do for you. It may eventually force you to delete it after, but that’s a discussion for another day.
What I will say is though, from time to time on Twitter you will obtain the occasional content that is beneficial and leads to you generating some worthwhile thoughts. These same thoughts turn into some of my blog posts, which you have the pleasure of reading today (a win-win).
Guide your eyes to the tweet above. Shout out to Derin Falana, an amazing musician from Brampton, Ontario, who inspired this article (scroll to the bottom of the page for the links to his music, he’s incredible). The statement was so simple but left a certain amount of doubt in my mind that I wanted to explore further. When you think of the words “moment” and “movement” separately, they both can impact your life significantly, leaving you with memories that stick with you, either good or bad.
But when putting them side by side in a battle, which is the rightful winner; moments or movements? We have to dive deeper to see who takes the edge, but this battle can go either way. Your answer may change constantly after reading through this article because, believe me, mine did while writing this. Ready?
The Moments We Live For
Think of a brief moment you had today. It may have been sudden, happening in the blink of an eye and fleeting, just like that. The emotions behind these moments vary from skepticism, fear, distrust, joy, satisfaction, comfort… you get the point. But we have all had those moments in life where although it may have lasted for five seconds, it felt like an eternity.
A special moment that must be addressed immediately concerns the current defending champions of the NBA, the Toronto Raptors. And this moment is the Kawhi Leonard shot in Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals against the Philadelphia 76ers. Four small bounces that had basketball fans across the world gasping for air, not knowing what to expect. It was a moment that was extremely brief but the feeling, once the shot went up, bounced around, and eventually dropped inside the hoop, was a roller-coaster of excitement, joy, and uncertainty.
A mere one-shot by Kawhi Leonard made grown men cry, made a random guy in a suit famous, and became one of the greatest sports moments in history. The emotions were insane and the shock from all of the faces in this video will show you exactly what I mean. One single moment. You love to see it. Relive the feeling with me here.
Where were you when Thanos snapped his finger and dusted your favourite superhero? Yes, you read that correctly, Thanos from the Marvel Universe, with a simple snap, turned superheroes into literal dust and caused an audience of all ages to wonder what just happened. You heard some of the rumours, you knew it was possibly coming eventually, but when you started seeing heroes vanishing from left to right… it hit you deeper. You felt it in your chest. Maybe you even cried a little bit. But that finger-snapping moment had you feeling a certain way and changed how people interacted with each other at the time (I saw someone cry inside the theater, unbelievable scenes).
Social media captured this moment and the memes created from a finger snap shaped a special but ambiguous time in the movie industry. The Thanos finger snap sent shock waves through the world in a way you would think a superhero movie never could.
Moments can also include having your first child, your wedding day, drinking your first glass of almond milk, etc. It happens and you feel how you feel at that exact moment. Whether sad or happy (but happy when you drink that almond milk), you felt how you did, and no one can take that moment away from you.
But you know the Drake lyric on the song 6 pm in New York, when he said “sometimes I wish I can go back in life, not to change things but just to feel things twice”? There’s some validity to that statement. If that moment was so good, so happy and impactful to you, wouldn’t you want to live that again? Feel that again? Or maybe it’s better to just feel something once and move on. Leave the past in the past and don’t get caught up in the moments you have in life for too long. But, and understandably so, wouldn’t you want to relive a moment that had you on your high horse, more than once in your life?
“Create the Movement”
A movement requires you to, you know, move… but it can also be defined as creating a change or causing the development of something. Think of it as a collection of moments, adding to one moment over and over again. A movement aims to create something memorable that retains momentum longer than a moment. We move to the movements (ha).
I’ve heard the term “create a movement, join the movement” many times, and the definition can get lost in translation. But there are two ways in this scenario that the phrase can be applied to this argument. Creating a movement is building something that will grow over time to represent a specific thing. Whether it be clothing, music, or a campaign for change, the goal is to establish something that will continuously grow through time. With that, you want people to join that movement. People whose thoughts and intentions align with what the movement stands for. The more people involved, the more noticeable your movement is, and the further it can grow.
Take first the example of starting an almond milk brand. You represent the brand, define it with values that are important to you, and present it for the world to see. You want the people who buy your product to do so because they believe in what you and your brand stand for. You created the movement, and now people join the movement because of the similarities you share and because they support what you stand for – the love of delicious milk. The accumulation of moments along the way is what helps you build and grow your brand to a point where your brand is now a movement – something memorable before all of us.
The other type of movement is a social movement, and these are essential because of how much attention they attract and their ability to cause change. An example includes the Civil Rights Movement, which helped unify the various moments in history initiated by black people, and helped gather attention and respect for people to listen. From abolishing the Jim Crow laws in 1964, the Rosa Parks story, the march on Washington, and so many more, we can see how a collection of moments helped construct a movement that is still discussed to this very day.
The history involved in the civil rights movement has a lot of material and for the sake of time, will not be covered in this article (link at the bottom for further information on the Civil Rights Movement). But what we can take out of this is how necessary movements are in the progression of society. How they can cause laws to be changed, shift the mindset of people everywhere, and create a presence and an image that is remembered and discussed for years to come. It’s crazy to think about how movements affect us and the results they bring about. But again I ask you, who is the rightful winner – moments or movements?
Who Wins?
So now we can see both sides of the spectrum. How one moment can change your life, one moment can deliver a flood of emotions that allow you to feel a type of way you never have before. Compared to a movement, where continuous moments are linked and entangled (ha) into each other. Sometimes you only want to feel and be a part of something once and leave it there. You don’t necessarily need to do it again, so the saying of “live in the moment” makes all the sense in the world. But why not include yourself in a movement and be part of something collective and continuous also?
Moments and movements can also go hand in hand – you may not have to separate them from each other. But that’s boring and for the sake of this argument, I choose movements because of the ongoing ability to add to a movement. You can keep it going and although there is a place for moments, being part of a movement is much more satisfying to me. There, I finally said it.
Wrap Up
What did you think of this head to head? The topic seemed like a fair chance for both sides to win so I decided to put something together. I hope you were able to see how these two words can be looked at side by side and how valuable they can be to our lives. If you enjoyed this article, let me know and more like this will follow. I would love to hear some feedback and your thoughts on this article. Thanks for reading, share with a friend, and answer the question below!
Who is your winner between moments vs movements?
#Momentsvsmovements
Tweet
Links
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-movement
Timeless Thoughts 
Movements
LikeLike