You are going to die!

The question is, how do you chose to live? 

Philosophy, Psychology, and history can give us many lessons to that question.  Deep questioning is rare.  The rarest. 

We tend to ask superficial questions and give superficial answers in a complicated existence. That superficiality leads to a limited, narrow, two-dimensional view of life.  This leaves us depressed without explanation. Empty, to be filled with whatever substances keep us from going deeper. 

We somehow think this is easier.  How’s that working for us?  Why do we do stay shallow?  No time?

Fear?  Fear of what? Words? Emotions? Actions or lack thereof?  Words evoke an emotion but it is NOT the emotion. However when we keep using the same words over and over- anxiety, depression- it can keep us in a cage. 

The lack of time and deeper understandings of existence, of life is a living death sentence.  You may be here, but not HERE.  The walking dead, or at least the walking wounded.  No wonder why we are attracted to zombie themes- it’s a reflection of us.

Because we don’t have better conversations, nor the time to have those conversations- I think there is this illusion of life being inexhaustible. I am personally disposed to a Scarlet O’ Hara, “tomorrow is another day” behavior. But how many tomorrows do any of us really have?

Challenge: the next time you are inclined to capture a moment- sitting in class,  going to a concert,  on vacation, or are simply enjoying time with friends- don’t take a pic.  The resistance to not ‘capture’ those moments will be a test indeed.  Imagine in any of those times that you will never ‘re-live’ it. Ever.  Take a breath, smell, look around, be silent and feel.  Then reflect back on that later, personally.  You won’t be able to show it- but if you close your eyes and trust, the memory will be more intense than a screen.  

Yes, it is nice to have pics, yes it is nice to be reminded of those events, and they will never ever be the same.  So keeping a device with the mind-set that it is the holder of all your precious memories will keep- becomes superficial.  We can show our friends how great our lives are as an empty reminder of how empty we are.

There is a big difference between seeing a pic of a mountain over an actual mountain.  I can never get a good pic of the moon, so when I see it, I appreciate it all the more, because then poof, it’s gone.  There will never be another day like this.