We beat the grim reaper by living well. Not by living long.
I’ve been in the face of mortality as a hospice nurse for nearly 18 years now. I’ve had many conversations with families about ‘the process’. I’ve shed tears with families, and behind closed doors. I’ve shaken it all off, compartmentalizing it carefully, before entering my home and my studio so that I can live my life unweighted.
That said, as I turned 50 this past year I’ve felt the first twinge of ‘I may not have much time left, so get after it!’. My clock speed has wound up. It’s part of what drives me to keep working harder in the studio. My art is my legacy. I’ve only got a limited time to put out into the world that which is within me. Turning 50 was my first real reminder of that.
None of us know how much time we have. Go get after it people. What ever your it is.
I had a conversation last week with a client. She just turned 100. She’s sharp as a tack and still cares for herself for the most part. She was having a little bit of a down day. Feeling tired and blue so I spent some time with her. We talked about her childhood and such. She never had ever thought she’d see 100. I posed to her “I bet when you were 73 you thought you were old.?.” She paused and got a wry smile as she hadn’t ever thought in those terms.
I told her in all my 25 years of nursing she’s probably the highest functioning 100 year old I’d ever met. In all of mankind she’s an an outlier. To make it to 100 is rare. Only a small fraction of a percent over all of time. Than to be functioning at her level… crazy. When she was born the average lifespan was 58.1 years old for a female.
When I saw her next she thanked me for the perspective I gave her that day. She then declined my help getting her socks on. “If I can still do it, I’m going to do it.”
Again, no one knows how much time they have left. There are things worse than death. Like living an unfulfilled life.
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