“I will not die an unlived life. I will not live in fear of falling or catching fire. I choose to inhabit my days, to allow my living to open me, to make me less afraid, more accessible, to loosen my heart until it becomes a wing, a torch, a promise. I choose to risk my significance; to live so that which comes to me as seed goes to the next as blossom and that which comes to me as blossom, goes on as fruit.”
~Dawna Markova
I love this quote from the comments on a recent news article about a teammate’s death. I’ve thought a lot about the risks of my daily activities: whether it be driving down the freeway, taking a cross-country flight, or paddling off into a foggy night. I know there are inherent risks in many things that I do and by simply living I choose to risk my significance. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
4 comments
I often think the same thing when the wind is hitting my face just right as I ride my bike down a particular Parkway. I couldn't trade those moments of bliss- moment when I feel the most infinite- for fear.
that poem reminds me a bit of jack london's credo: "I'd rather be ashes than dust…"
things like this are sobering. The idea that death happens, even in the most unexpected times and places, even when nothing risky is being done, it happens.
There's a bit of grace involved in just accepting that and continuing to live.
I'd rather be a sparrow than a snail.
Yes, I would.
If I could,
I surely would.
I'd rather be a hammer than a nail.
Yes, I would.
If I only could,
I surely would.
Away, I'd rather sail away
Like a swan that's here and gone.
A man gets tied up to the ground.
He gives the world
Its saddest sound,
Its saddest sound.
I'd rather be a forest than a street.
Yes, I would.
If I could,
I surely would.
I'd rather feel the earth beneath my feet.
Yes, I would.
If I only could,
I surely would.
Love the quotation! Lots of grist for meditation today. BTW, good wishes on your dissertation. I remember days when dissertation was the carpet on my living room floor, when my vision was blurred and when random phrases from the dissertation would appear on the inside of my eyelids when I lay down to (attempt to) sleep. Cheers from here!