"You know what the most important thing on a person's tombstone is? It's not the date of birth or the date of death...it's the little dash that connects them."
This profound truth was spoken by my dear friend, Darrell.He was right...one tiny dash. All of our experiences, adventures, joys and heartaches are represented in that one diminutive mark.
The conversation had begun over the news that, Dave Freeman, author of 100 Things To Do Before You Die had himself died at age 47. Had he, I wondered...done all that was on his list?
We commented on the sad irony...but...then paused to consider something else...
Here was a man who had lived more in his 47 years than most live in 80! His was a life to emulate! Surely, he would've been the guy who wanted a huge raucous party to celebrate his life rather than a somber wake to mourn his death.
He lived his dreams...shouldn't we?
I've taken inspiration from Dave Freeman's life and have begun my own 'list of dreams.'
- Sail the Greek Islands
- Write a 'screenplay' memoir of my life in Northern Japan
- Have a home on the beach in Hawaii
- Take singing lessons
- Watch the sun set over Mount Kilamanjara
- Finish writing my book and get it published
- Learn to draw, paint and do all manner of artistic things.
- Inspire others towards their dreams
I observe a few quiet moments with myself each evening with a soulful look inward. Because of this practice and the Japanese method of 'goal-getting' known as Kaizen, my dreams will be represented on my 'little dash.'
And you...what's on your list of dreams?
Posts
1 comment:
I never really thought about that! I love the symbolism of the hyphen in this context. A whole life in a dash -line from point A to point B. What stories and dreams are contained in a single line! "Hyphen" comes from ancient Greek - huphen - meaning "in one" or bringing together (as in bringing together, or bridging dates or names, as in hyphenated last names) brings to my mind the idea of unification - becoming whole. How do we make ourselves - and our lives - whole? How do we make that little dash live up to its ancient definition? Making a list of dreams and doing all we can to see them come true so that our lives will become unified and whole. I think of Shel Silverstein's book "The Missing Piece" - we all want that elusive pie-shaped sliver that will fill us and make us perfectly round and whole. Your fabulous blog is an important ingredient in my pie slice! Thank you!!! Oh my goodness, I just looked below this comment window to the word verification code, and guess what it is? "makin" - as in makin' dreams come true. Too cool!
Post a Comment