Conversations about Death

Rumi and I often talk about death. He is curious about it and I’m open about it — so we talk.

I tell him that I don't fear death because I feel content in my life. Yes, I have experienced failure but if I died tomorrow I would die feeling successful. I have been blessed with a connected family, good health, intimate friendships, a loving partner, two beautiful sons, a quiet life in the country and an education that taught I can start over again and again… and although I still long to write and publish a book, build our dream home and put my work further out into the world I know that these things are not the measure of my life’s success, but simply an offering of Soul.

Since a near death experience at the age of 11, I have always measured the meaning of my life against the meaning of my death. By allowing myself to practice an accept of impermanence, I have often found the courage to go where my heart longs to go despite the fear of failure.

Our lives can become so unnecessarily complicated when measure our success against our productivity, against the insatiable appetite of *more.* I believe it is more honest, more human for us to measure our lives by how deeply we have loved, how openly we have lived and how courageous we have been in allowing the world to love us.

For it will be these relationships, these meaningful conversations like the one I'm having with Rumi, that we’ll draw near as we pass from this grand cycle to the next.