dreaming, and doing
Jun. 26th, 2005 03:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chelidonThis is a expansion of a comment I made recently in response to a friend's LJ post, brought to the surface in my mind by helping a dear old friend who this weekend has begun the process of moving into our house. She suddenly lost her partner, also one of my dearest and closest friends, to a motorcycle accident about 2 years ago, and then fought off cancer, and is still despite, or perhaps because of her experience, one of those people I know who is most heroically passionate about living life to the fullest. I think I may have written something on this general topic a number of months back, but writing this post now reminds me again of something I don't ever want to forget, no matter what else is going on in my life.
I have lost a fair number of friends and family, often young, often suddenly. One of the things it has taught me is that you have your memories of the past; you have this perfect golden moment; and you have hopes and dreams for the future. But that's all the future is -- hopes and dreams. There are absolutely no guarantees that any of them will come to pass, or that I will be here to see them if they do, or that any one of my friends and loved ones in particular will be either. That's one of the simple facts of embodied human existence.
That makes each now, and each moment with those I cherish, a precious gift for which I am unimaginably grateful.
My partner works as a medical professional in a hospital, doing a mixture of inpatient, outpatient, ICU and so on. Every week she has to counsel families through end-of-life issues, tell people they're dying, or that they now need to decide whether to insert a feeding tube or take some other invasive step for themselves or others (the alternative is to let go of life), or that one of their loved ones is irreversably brain-damaged and will likely never again be the person they knew and loved. Some of these people are old and had long lives, some are children, some had sudden accidents, some are 35-year-old stroke or cancer victims, and so on. You never know, and anyone who doesn't live each moment to its absolute highest potential is missing an opportunity which will never come again. Carpe Diem isn't just a trite platitude, it's the most sane response, IMO, to the reality of our embodied physicality.
I believe that it is important to choose to live life wildly and passionately, savor each moment like the precious drop of delight it is, soar into each ascent, dive into the depths as deep as one can stand, and love as deeply as one is capable of. To quote Rev. King, "A dream deferred is a dream denied." If you have a dream, a true, real dream, that goes beyond mere wish, fantasy, or casual want, then I can do no more than urge you to pursue it fully, vigorously, and with your entire heart, mind, and body. Win or lose, at least you will always be able to say you gave it your very finest and fullest shot, you held nothing back, you did your best. Then you need have few, if any regrets. Once you know what your dreams truly are, prove yourself worthy of them by orienting your life around making them manifest in the world. And do it now. Because now is all you truly have.
-------
Du siehst, ich will viel
You see, I want a lot.
Maybe I want it all:
the darkness of each endless fall,
the shimmering light of each ascent.
So many are alive who don't seem to care.
Casual, easy, they move in the world
as though untouched.
But you take pleasure in the faces
of those who know they thirst.
You cherish those
who grip you for survival.
You are not dead yet, it's not too late
to open your depths by plunging into them
and drink in the life
that reveals itself quietly there.
--Rilke (trans. Barrows/Macy)
I have lost a fair number of friends and family, often young, often suddenly. One of the things it has taught me is that you have your memories of the past; you have this perfect golden moment; and you have hopes and dreams for the future. But that's all the future is -- hopes and dreams. There are absolutely no guarantees that any of them will come to pass, or that I will be here to see them if they do, or that any one of my friends and loved ones in particular will be either. That's one of the simple facts of embodied human existence.
That makes each now, and each moment with those I cherish, a precious gift for which I am unimaginably grateful.
My partner works as a medical professional in a hospital, doing a mixture of inpatient, outpatient, ICU and so on. Every week she has to counsel families through end-of-life issues, tell people they're dying, or that they now need to decide whether to insert a feeding tube or take some other invasive step for themselves or others (the alternative is to let go of life), or that one of their loved ones is irreversably brain-damaged and will likely never again be the person they knew and loved. Some of these people are old and had long lives, some are children, some had sudden accidents, some are 35-year-old stroke or cancer victims, and so on. You never know, and anyone who doesn't live each moment to its absolute highest potential is missing an opportunity which will never come again. Carpe Diem isn't just a trite platitude, it's the most sane response, IMO, to the reality of our embodied physicality.
I believe that it is important to choose to live life wildly and passionately, savor each moment like the precious drop of delight it is, soar into each ascent, dive into the depths as deep as one can stand, and love as deeply as one is capable of. To quote Rev. King, "A dream deferred is a dream denied." If you have a dream, a true, real dream, that goes beyond mere wish, fantasy, or casual want, then I can do no more than urge you to pursue it fully, vigorously, and with your entire heart, mind, and body. Win or lose, at least you will always be able to say you gave it your very finest and fullest shot, you held nothing back, you did your best. Then you need have few, if any regrets. Once you know what your dreams truly are, prove yourself worthy of them by orienting your life around making them manifest in the world. And do it now. Because now is all you truly have.
-------
Du siehst, ich will viel
You see, I want a lot.
Maybe I want it all:
the darkness of each endless fall,
the shimmering light of each ascent.
So many are alive who don't seem to care.
Casual, easy, they move in the world
as though untouched.
But you take pleasure in the faces
of those who know they thirst.
You cherish those
who grip you for survival.
You are not dead yet, it's not too late
to open your depths by plunging into them
and drink in the life
that reveals itself quietly there.
--Rilke (trans. Barrows/Macy)
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no subject
Date: 2005-06-26 10:38 pm (UTC)And for yet more Rilke. :-)
no subject
Date: 2005-06-27 12:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-06-27 04:21 pm (UTC):searches for more poetic crack:
no subject
Date: 2005-06-27 04:50 pm (UTC)One good place to try is here (http://www.theotherpages.org/poems/index.html). I can almost forgive them for totally omitting Rilke. Almost. Who knows, may well be a copyright issue.
I was just on there myself, reading through and looking up one of e.e. cumming's poems (http://www.theotherpages.org/poems/cumming1.html). Yum.