carpe diem...not memento mori

"Believe it or not, each and every one of us in this room is going to 

stop breathing, turn cold and die."

Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society

Life without Chris & Pitts?

I have been reflecting back on individuals that we have lost over the years and vividly remember a few discussions of their wistful desires. I was sad then, but it has since been replaced with disappointment. Conversations would include "if only we would have more time, if only we could afford it, if only we could enjoy vacations, if only we were not so fearful"... we could do this, that or whatever. 

All in slowwww motion...this sea star is dancin with joy!

Even this Banana Slug is celebrating.

Well, what "if only" never came and our life was unexpectedly extinguished? Most likely we would leave many acquaintances, friends and loved ones we left behind dwelling on what they could have done to bring to us the awareness of celebrating life.

So...what good would living do us if we chose not to experience it?
I have been told that there are far better things ahead than what we will leave behind. And if you don't know it, experiencing living does not mean having money, being free of a career or being able to travel in a motorhome. Most of the lifedancers we know still work hard, have responsibilities to consider, have their own trials and tribulations, but...could celebrate life in a wheelchair. They imagine...they never stop dreaming and they have taken the first step. 

Imagine a place where you become lulled by the rhythm of a river, which in my realm of reality is defined as rhythmless or nothing less. Now imagine a place where time is irrelevant, no reasons to get up at the "regular" time, no reason to change out (or in) of your pjs, no reason to have an itinerary, no reason to ask what am I doing today, no reason to do anything but allow a moment of existence to play out.

In this place your life is being broadcasted NOW...calm and serene, real and alive, beckoning, calling, luring you to see, feel and experience everything. Do we need something called a "vacation" or a winning lotto ticket to show up at this place? Do we even want to be in this space of existence? It is definitely not scripted in our current paradigm or culture...it's too decadent, too mindless. Time is money and no energy used is wasted energy.

 We have been on many trails where we have noticed some huge and once mighty trees that had toppled over due to butt rot, a fungi that attacks under the surface of a tree's thickest core where it meets the soil. This can be a metaphor of one's life today. No matter how strong, how abundant or how successful we are, the self, the body, the mind will topple without a desire to take moments to imagine...