Death is certain. Do the thing.
We teach this.
Everyone you know and everyone you love will die.
And so will you.
Do the thing.
- Write the song.
- Choreograph the dance.
- Paint the painting.
- Go to karaoke.
- Fly to Rio.
- Come out of the closet.
- Say yes. Say no. Either way, get off the fence.
And along the way, plant seeds, literally and metaphorically.
It all ends. All of it. Yup, that too.
And—and here’s the tricky bit—you don’t know when.
Even if you have gotten a diagnosis, you still don’t know when it ends (this, coming from a two-time cancer survivor who was told both times that six months was the limit, now going on 25 years ago).
That’s what trips people up.
The trouble is, you think you have time (Buddha quote!).
You don’t know that. You literally cannot know how much time you have. I know people who I have spoken to at 11:24 a.m., said, “See you tomorrow!”, and they had transitioned in the night.
This is not an anomaly. Dying is quite natural and common. We turn away from this because facing our end is hard. It is. No doubt.
But acting like it’s not going to happen doesn’t make it not happen. Meanwhile, there’s a song inside of you begging to be expressed before the body cannot do it.
There’s a degree program you want to finish.
There’s a remodel on that kitchen you want to do.
Write the song.
Go back to school.
Get quotes for the cabinets.
You are Magic. Starlight. We are bioluminescent beings (did you know that?). We laugh. We can make things. We can do things. We can build things.
All of that is inside you, right now.
Build.
Laugh.
Grow.
Today. Yes, today look up sites on greenhouse structures and imagine your dream greenhouse. Then, do it again tomorrow. And again tomorrow.
Yes, we teach this to our students, our teachers, our staff.
What the heck kind of curriculum is this?!?
- None of this piano garbage matters if you’re miserable.
- None of this instruction how-to nonsense matters if you’re not able to tap into your own music.
- None of this encouragement matters if you can’t remember your whimsy.
True or false?
Doing so—singing, laughing, skipping, dancing—is natural to us as Alive Beings.
This is your natural state.
Also natural—all that lives must die.
And you don’t know when.
Do the thing.
