Someone’s Gotta Tell You
Posted on | June 1, 2009 | No Comments
We avoid it. We don’t like to talk about it. We can’t stand to hear about it. We pretend it doesn’t exist. But it does. What is the dirty little secret about life and living it to the fullest that we do our best to avoid?
It’s simple.
Psst. You’re dying.
I KNOW! I said it. I said the “D” word. And it makes people cringe, cry, and creep out. But why is it that something we all know exists and know is real in the world makes us turn our head and walk? Why do we plug our ears? Fear? You bet! Face it, those who are really comfortable talking about death usually get classified as dark, morose, cynical, pessimistic, depressing, or something akin to deeply troubled.
But facing the reality of death is the one sure way to embrace life. Every breath.
Perhaps seeing the play “Our Town” by Thornton Wilder at nine years old got me at too early of an age. I remember the speech the character Emily gave. I wept till I my sister Karla finally sent me to the bathroom (because she couldn’t handle me wiping my snot on my sleeves anymore).
In case you’re not familiar with it, the character Emily, after passing away during childbirth, returns to re-live just any ordinary day of her life. She’s warned not to pick a really happy day but a rather ordinary day. She chooses her birthday.
What struck me even at a tender age is that she is heartbroken after reliving ordinary moments like waking and coming down for breakfast. She says, in this all important monologue,
“Oh, Mama, just look at me one minute as though you really saw me” Suddenly, she turns to the Stage Manager and tells him that the scene is unbearable. “I can’t go on. It goes so fast. We don’t have time to look at one another ” She asks the Stage Manager to take her back “up the hill—to my grave ” As she leaves, She bids farewell to ticking clocks, sunflowers, food and coffee, new ironed dresses, hot baths, sleeping and waking and she says, “Oh earth, you’re just too wonderful for anyone to realize you!” Then she asks the Stage Manager: “Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it?—every, every minute?”
So do you? Do you realize life every minute while living it? Isn’t it funny that by looking at the future it makes life so much more vibrant today?
Someone once said, “I think that at the very beginning of life, someone should tell you you’re dying. Then you’ll get it better.”
Hey. You’ve been told. Now get on with making your life happen the way you want it to. Breathe deeper, love harder, forgive more. Life is beautiful. Cherish it.
All my love,
Kelley Taylor
Tags: advice > death > dirty little secret > dying > kelley taylor > living > make every day a holiday > making the most > Re: Life > Secret
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