I have a dream.

Well, dreams. I spent a lot of my nights worrying about the future, which as a kid, I’m well aware is unusual.

But I couldn’t help but wonder what will happen once I’ve lived my life, given my best at everything and passed on. I couldn’t help but think about how it’s even possible for me to make a difference in the world when it’s already being taken care of by others. I couldn’t help but wonder how can I be remembered if there are 7.7 billion other humans to be remembered alongside me. I struggled to understand my purpose in life until a dinner conversation with my father changed my outlook on everything.

While eating a forkful of salmon, my father asked me “Reeya, you’re interested in digital design right”? I responded yes but hesitantly, nervous this may turn into a lecture of how I can’t follow through with my creative endeavors. Instead, he smiled and asked if I could design a t-shirt logo with two of his life mantras.

The first mantra was a Sanskrit scripture dating back over 5,000 years. He grabbed a piece of paper and started to scribble on the words “इदं न मम” (idam na mama) which translates to “this is not mine”. The idea behind the scripture is that all possessions in life are not real, the only thing that is real is the impact you make on the community.

The second mantra was the one I was already quite familiar with — the Latin phrase “Carpe Diem” or ’seize the day’. That was thanks to one of my favorite shopping brands Hollister, who used a variation of the phrase as a TAG-line (Get it? Because they’re clothes :) ).

He offered that remembering these two mantras as we live life, can help us remember what truly matters — what you leave behind as your legacy and that you need to take action today. I pondered about it as I finished my plate, washed it off and went off to sleep.

As I dreamt on more about this, I began to think about these phrases more and how they could solve the very conundrum I dealt with all those nights. I realized it was time to make a difference in my community. Not to please my parents, not to please myself, but to know that I can make this world a slightly better place. So the next morning, I woke up early and knocked on my parent’s bedroom door. My father had just woken up but his eyes lit up when I said: “I know what I need to do, and it’s time to seize the day.”