I acknowledge my mortality.
As the plane takes off, I think about it crashing. It is something I think about every time a plane takes off or lands. I thought about how this could be my last moment alive. I felt okay about things. The people I love, they know I love them. I felt pretty free and at peace.
I guess to me, mortality is more than death. When I'm acknowledging it, I'm not just digesting the idea of no longer being alive. I'm thinking of myself in terms of the finite. I do not believe in an afterlife, nor reincarnation. This is my one life, and so when I think about mortality, I think about what I'm doing with my one life.
Often, after thinking about mortality makes me feel like I need to give more. It makes me inspect my relationships. I take a snapshot in my head of whoever I'm thinking about as the wheels leave the ground, and when I land, I make sure to contact them in the week to see how they are.
If I'm to trace this back, I think it goes back to my father. He always told me to treat everyone like it was the last time I would see them. It wasn't some message of impending doom nor was it as morbid as it sounds. It didn't inspire guilt either. I've just wanted to live free of that kind of burden.
It would bee terrible of me to leave others with an unresolved feeling if (for example) we had an argument. I wouldn't want someone to have to feel that way.
Benjamin Franklin says that only two things are for sure in life: Death and Taxes. Having said that, in 2010, I'm celebrating my annual tradition of putting it off until the very last minute.
And just because I felt like it, here is some more flash art courtesy of Facebook and free time.
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You should have that thought every time you open your eyes to start another day. So should I.
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