Why do we only talk about someone’s impact they have by nature of the values they live, the love they share and the intentions/action/attention they exhibit in their lives when they’ve already died? The impact we have on those around us is one of the key ways we develop a legacy that will live beyond us and maintain our significance after we’re gone.
On Sunday, June 25th, I reflected on the difficult work before us to first, acknowledge our own mortality and the fact that we’re all working with a deadline; and second, to confront whatever fears or anxieties we have around our mortality, the beliefs we come to this topic with, and how we move beyond denial and reticence toward healthy and positive intentions and action. I want to do more than just think or speak about what’s important to me. I want to live it in such a way that it impacts those around me, that I begin/continue to write my own story of understanding of the direction and significance of my living and loving.
If you didn’t get a chance to hear this reflection, you can see it here, or read it here.
This feels like just the beginning of this conversation. What other conversations can grow out of this one? Can we continue to talk honestly about MAID (Medical Assistance in Dying, an end-of-life law and policy in Canada)? Can we continue to talk honestly about what kind of preparations we can make and conversations we can have with family and friends about our wishes, our hopes for celebrations, rituals, or how our values and passions might live on?
It’s summer. It’s an awfully heavy topic for a beautiful sunny week, but where else but healthy spiritual community can we have these conversations safely and positively with each other? I look forward to engaging with you in the coming months about this, and picking up the threads from so many of your responses from last Sunday.
This will be my last post while I take a break through the month of July. I’ll be delighted to return to the community and to this forum in August. Until then, may you have a safe and wonderful summer!
-Chris.
