Are You Running Towards Life or Running Away From Death?
By now, most all of my readers have most likely tired of reading the same old bad news and worse news here. I wish I had something more uplifting on a routine basis, but today I deliver. I want everyone to Live Now, and perhaps this entry can be helpful in that. Treasure today like the miracle it really is. Most of us take for granted so many different things that not only are not guaranteed, but most likely will taken from us over the next decade. Some of these things are beginning to appear randomly at first, and then much more frequently as time moves forward. Two years ago, the freedom to go where we want and do what we want was suddenly retracted due to the coronavirus pandemic. Many different businesses closed down, especially non-essential businesses such as restaurants, bars, night clubs, tourist destinations, visitor centers, and many other public places. Along with these limitations, the global supply chain began developing cracks. Unbeknownst to most of society, the predicament of energy and resource decline was beginning to show its ugly head. Due to these resource limits, we can expect to see much more of this issue. Many other issues caused by a lack of energy will become commonplace - rising prices, inflation, empty shelves, unavailable items and services, and on and on.
Yellowstone National Park being closed for two weeks and parts of Wyoming and Montana being cut off from the rest of the world is reminiscent of the massive flooding that caused the same types of issues last year in British Columbia. The infrastructure that supports daily life can be wiped out in just one extreme weather event, taking our electrical power, water and sewer service, local grocery stores, and even communication services such as cellphones, computers, and even landline phones away from us. In landslide, rockslide, erosion, and other flooding-related situations, roads and bridges can be washed away in an instant. The recent flooding in St.Louis, Missouri and Kentucky (see these photos) demonstrates just how quickly all of this can happen.
Enough with the bad, depressing news already - time for something more uplifting! A woman named Kerri Grote died last year and her friend posted this, along with Kerri's message to the world:
"If you’re reading this, this fu$king brain cancer probably got me.
But let me be crystal clear while I’m able: I did not ”lose a battle” against cancer. This is a ridiculous, steamy pile of horse shit that society has dumped on cancer patients. Western medicine, and Western culture, especially, is so uncomfortable talking about death that instead it created this “battle” analogy that basically shames people who die from cancer.
News flash: None of us gets out alive from this rodeo called life.
There is no shame in dying from cancer – or any serious illness. And it doesn’t need to be a battle. It’s a transition that each of us will go through. I was asked by a shaman, whom I spoke to after my second brain surgery, “Are you running towards life or running away from death?”
Whoa! That got my attention.
There’s a BIG difference. I got it wrong more often than not.
Don’t let fear fuel your choices. Live fearlessly. Run TOWARDS life. Don’t worry about what people will think. Trust me, it doesn’t matter.
Focus on you. Be true to yourself. Be your own best friend. People who tell you you’re selfish are not your people. If the voice in your head says these unkind things, get a new voice. Honor your mental health and seek out a good therapist with the same vigor you’d search for a romantic partner.
Speaking of, be intentional about cultivating friendships that lift you up. As those friendships grow and change, don’t overlook them while you search for that “great love of your life.” (No, I’m not suggesting you sleep with your bestie. But you do you!)
Another unhelpful message that we get from society is that we need a “love of our life,” as a romantic partner.
Single and childless when I was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, I looked around my life and came up sputtering and sobbing from the wave of grief washed over me. I thought I’d be doing this alone… no husband, no kids, no “great love.”
How wrong I was. At the first appointment with my neuro oncologists, one of the nurses diligently hauled in chair after chair for the great loves of my life who came with me that horrible day and many days after that.
I sat and listened while the doctor explained the 12-month treatment plan, focusing on my breathing, then looked around the room…. filled with great loves of my life: incredible women friends whom I had met at various stages of my life. Surround yourself with people who contradict that unkind voice, people who see your light, and remind you who you are: an amazing soul. Learn how to receive these reflections from your people. Because they are speaking the Truth.
Love yourself, no matter how weird and silly it might feel. Every morning, give yourself a hug before your feet hit the floor. Look deeply into your eyes in a mirror. Say to yourself, out loud, “I trust you.” That voice in your head might say you’re a dork. Ignore it.
As I prepare to leave this body and embark on this mysterious journey of my soul, I hope these observations from my deathbed are somehow useful. What I know, deep in my bones, is that learning to love myself has led me to be able to say this: I’m so proud of how I lived.
May you, dear reader, feel the same when you head out on your soul journey, too. Until then, enjoy the ride. And always eat dessert first, especially if there’s pie!"
Excellent perspective on life! I hope to be as content when my time comes
ReplyDeleteErik,
ReplyDeleteYour articles are interesting. Have you given any thought to the fact that the Internet accounts for more than 10% of global energy use and by maintaining a presence on the internet, we are all contributing to the predicament of the overshoot of finite resources? In fact, the servers that store the files to which all hyperlinks lead and massively energy hungry. They way the use of the Internet is growing and the proliferation of websites and blog spots contributes to this predicament, and in spite of the “spin” on green power, there is no way out of this bind.
Hi Douglas,
DeleteYes, I'm well aware of the rapidly growing emissions coming from internet servers and the world wide web; especially bitcoin mining operations. I posted a picture in one of my articles labeled, "Carbon Tunnel Vision" which points to how so many people focus on emissions but completely ignore all other symptom predicaments of ecological overshoot.
The use of the Internet by a growing number of bloggers and podcasters is, in a paradoxical way, simply making our predicaments more acute because the Internet is massively energy hungry.
ReplyDeleteI'm off on a camping trip for a few days which will involve going to a woodland burial ground where my Mother is buried. She never stopped living even when she had the cancer diognosis. She kept seeing friends and went on holiday and said something along the lines of "I'm not having a bucket list because they're stupid". With predicament of climate disaster becoming ever more clear the way my Mother faced death serves as a parting lesson.
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful, thankyou Erik for sharing this incredibly uplifting message.💗🙏
ReplyDelete