WaterNotes

Living Fearlessly, Taking Chances

I’ve had a decade long obsession with a guilty female pleasure, Oprah.  The show today was particularly resonant with me since they talked about death and the lack of discussion about death in American culture.  We seem to believe we can circumvent that last, very organic, part of existence by failing to acknowledge it.

What I really identified with from Oprah today was her guest Kris Carr who’s helmed the film Crazy Sexy Cancer.  She has this amazing outlook on the world and  life.  I found her position so intriguing.  She’s got an incurable cancer that she is living with everyday.  And when I say living, she exemplifies the meaning of the word. 

An idea I really loved: Imagine for a moment that you know you are dying.  What would you do with the time you have left?  What have you always wanted to experience but never allowed yourself to enjoy?  In what ways would you treat people differently? 

Her point:  If you aren’t doing any of the things you just thought of, aren’t treating people in the way you just thought, and aren’t allowing yourself to experience your true goals and dreams… then you aren’t really living.  Why wait for the threat of the end to truly allow yourself to experience life?  Why wait for the threat of cancer (or heart disease, or arthritis, or losing your mind) to inspire you to grab hold of everything you want your life to encompass? 

Ultimately, I see Carr’s message as being one of infinite hope and inspiration.  I see it as a beacon for alternative medicine and positive thought patterns and for being an active participant in a lifelong quest for health and balance. 

And I see it as a wakeup call for anyone who’s stuck in a rut and not loving every moment of their lives.

Me?  I like to think that I already apply a fearless attitude when it comes to living each moment and wringing the day of all its possibilities.  But I could be doing more. 

I want to carve out my career, publish more work in the literature fields, make a bigger dent in the conservation problems I see everyday, and reach more children and adults with the message that they do - indeed - have the capacity to make their own dents. Environmental or otherwise.

Even now though, with those goals unrealized, I’m pretty happy with the state of myself.  And considering all the roads I’ve walked in the last nine years, I’m proud of the progress I’ve made.  It makes it easier to remember things, and to think about the people who are no longer with us.