"Are you ready to die?" the Muslim man on the plane asked me last year as we were about to depart from the Mentawai islands and jump the channel to West Sumatra.
I'm still not sure if it was asked as a scare tactic or a genuine inquiry but it became a conversation I will never forget... Half in broken Indonesian, half in broken English...
He explained to me how a Muslim is always ready to die. There is no unfinished business... No sins to repent or wrongs to make right.
Each day has been lived as virtuously as possible and therefore, they are ready to face the afterlife.
This thought doesn't scare me. It intrigues me the way "living each day like it's your last" does.
What if this was it?
What would you do today?
Some people, in fact... Many people believe the world as we know it will end on December 21, 2012.
Not to startle you doomsdayers... But... Uh... That's like really really soon.
If you really think the world is gonna end, why aren't you living boldly and bravely? Traveling to the places you dream of traveling to? Putting your heart on your sleeve and going for it?
Many of us live in this debilitating fear of debt and become prisoner to the Benjamin's... But there are no pockets in your coffin and no debt collectors in the afterlife.
So what's the big deal?
It doesn't mean anything anyways as far as I can tell.
Maybe this is just the paradigm by which I choose to view the world.. But does anything really matter besides happiness?
My motto: if you're not enjoying it then why are you doing it?
I don't believe in suffering now to be happy later because there is absolutely NO guarantee that there is gonna be a "later"...
The Mowgli's new song speaks to this in a song that pulls just a little too hard on my heart strings for me to listen to - but the message is real.
"cherish this cuz when it doesn't last you'll wish you had"
It's all just speaking to "Carpe Diem"...
Seize
The
Day
... I know it can be scary! You're not alone.
It reminds me of outer space.
People look at how huge this universe is and get overwhelmed with claustrophobic "I'm so tiny and insignificant" fear...
Me? I feel huge... Vast... Infinite...
Because I am a card carrying member of "the all" - I just recognize the whole that I'm a part of and feel embraced and held by the dark, the light, the fear and the love. And find a way to laugh at every single turn.
It's the same empowerment from surrendering to the idea that I am just a puppet in this impermanence game... All the more reason for me to live for today and be ready to die cuz I know I did everything... Went everywhere... And said everything.
The end?
Bring it on.
I'm reaching for stars, yo.
"The earth turned to bring us closer. It spun on itself and within us and finally joined us together in this dream"
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