How would you feel if your life was derailed through no fault of your own, leaving a chasm between the life you wanted to live and the life you were stuck with? (Maybe you are in this situation now?) This is what happened to Amanda Knox after she was wrongfully convicted of murder and spent years in prison. Recently, she reflected on a profound insight about how to live life a few years into her prison sentence.
The Meredith Kercher Murder Trial
First, let’s refresh on the highly publicized trial and conviction of Knox. In 2007, she was a 20-year-old University of Washington student studying abroad in Perugia, Italy. On November 6, 2007 she came home after spending the night with her boyfriend and found the door to her roomate’s room locked and blood in the bathroom. She called the police, who found her roommate, Meredith Kercher, murdered. Knox and her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were convicted of Kercher’s murder and sentenced to 26 and 25 years in prison, respectively. The prosecution argued that the murder was the result of a sex game gone wrong, but the case against Knox and Sollecito was largely based on circumstantial evidence and questionable DNA analysis.
In 2011, after serving four years in prison, Knox and Sollecito were acquitted on appeal due to a lack of evidence and flaws in the investigation. Another man, Rudy Guede, was tried and convicted for Kercher’s murder based on his fingerprints found at the scene.
You can find more details about Knox, her conviction, and later acquittal here: Amanda Knox Biography.
Amanda Knox On Living Life As You Find It
In February 2023, Knox discussed an epiphany she experienced two years into her prison sentence. This epiphany provides wise guidance to all of us about how we can fully embrace and live our lives regardless of our circumstances.
Here are selected tweets from her thread about her epiphany:
Read the entire Tweet string here.
Knox’s revelation is profound. She’s right — no matter how life is going, we only have one life and can only live in the current moment. It’s up to us to make the most of whatever circumstances we’ve been dealt. As philosopher Martin Heidegger noted, we are all thrown into the world and it’s best to acknowledge and embrace the circumstances into which we’re thrown (Heidegger called this “throwness“).
There Are No Ordinary Moments
Knox’s epiphany reminds me of the primary message in Dan Millman’s semi-autobiographical book The Way of the Peaceful Warrior about a college gymnast named Dan, who, despite his success, feels an unexplainable void in his life. This changes when he meets a wise old gas station attendant he refers to as Socrates, who becomes Dan’s mentor and spiritual guide.
Socrates teaches Dan about the importance of being present in the moment and the power of mindful living. Through a series of lessons and challenges, Dan learns to let go of his fears and desires that dictate his life. This transformation allows him to appreciate the beauty of life and become a “peaceful warrior” who lives with a greater sense of purpose and serenity.
One day, Socrates instructs Dan to sit on a rock until he’s figured out something of value about life. After over a day of sitting on the rock (and multiple failed attempts at conveying something of value to Socrates), Dan realizes that “there are no ordinary moments” in life. We only get so many moments, and all of them are special. Times of frustration and sadness are as special as those filled with joy. This mindset helps us revel in experiencing the bloom of the present moment – even washing the dishes can be an extraordinary experience as can commuting or getting a root canal.
Ever since reading Way of the Peaceful Warrior over 20 years ago, I try to reflect on Dan’s “no ordinary moments” revelation during both good times and bad. I discussed this concept in one of the most viewed IFODs of all time: Mile 21 Thinking.
I try daily to remind myself this this moment in time is really all we have. I have experienced heartbreak and sadness, and thoughts of being treated unfairly in my 78 years. Then I think….today is all we have, so get off my a__ and do something worthwhile.