In a Minute

"Some people live a lifetime in a minute."

These are the words Al Pacino uses as a rebuttal (or pick-up-line) to the extremely pretty girl he tries to sit with at a fancy restaurant. He says those words to her after she tries to get rid of him on the excuse that her partner should be arriving in "a minute."

This is a key scene that opens up to one of the most beautiful scenes of the film Scent of a Woman. In an incredible film, which garnered Pacino his Academy Award. Without elaborating too much on the plot (although it's not a movie you can "give it away" on) I'll just say that he, Pacino, plays a blind man and does so really, really well. Because of his blindness other senses are, of course, enhanced - including his sense of smell. Hence the title, Scent of a Woman.

But let's address the opening statement. Is that true? Sometimes time is just ticking away. We can get so easily distracted. Bored. Life is sometimes so slow. Sometimes, on the other hand, it is so fast that we feel a little overwhelmed. But life isn't measured by speed. I can't quite claim to know what it is measured by, but it is not whether the minute was fast or slow. What matters is if that minute became alive or not.