Reflections on Life

My uncle died recently. While we were not the closest, he was still an important family mentor, figure, and hero. It still gets me to think deeply about life. How are we living this one wild and precious life? What does it mean? How do we approach our everyday? We often get stuck in the routine of everyday not appreciating the miracle of the small moments in our lives that make it so amazing. I don’t know what it is about a death in the family or your network of friends, but it always draws out an enhanced awareness of life. Everything becomes more raw, more rich, more vivid. Sunrises, conversations with strangers, my toddler’s giggle, the way the light plays on trees. In addition a death is a division of relationship that wrenches the love and relationship with that person apart and completely changes how it continues. Existentialists may bemoan the finality of life at death, but there are countless stories of memories of the deceased that point to the fact that the relationship endures. The legacy and memory live on in poignant moments that buoy our grieving hearts. My esteemed colleague Kim Bateman, Phd and Dean of Students at Sierra College, tells of a wonderful tradition of singing over bones in a way that honors the legacy of our passed relations. As my cousins and I consider a fishing trip in honor of my uncle, I challenge you to remember those who have been influential and important in your life for better and worse, living and passed. Have you hugged them? Have you remembered them? Have you sung over bones? Have you listened to their updates? These connections enrich our lives and our relationships in a way that increase meaning and importance of others in our lives. It takes time; it sometimes takes work; it sometimes brings up baggage. Yet here's to living our lives and enriching our process through those we love and interact with. Especially through the mundane of everyday. Live out loud; live together; live in honor of those how have contributed to your process; live grateful for your wild and precious life. Cheers Uncle *. We love and miss you.