Welcome to 2012, the last year on earth for the doomsayers who believe that the end of the Mayan calendar predicts the apocalypse. Incidentally, one of the definitions of "apocalypse" is, "a revelation, or a lifting of the veil". Not exactly the popular usage, but important, at least on a subliminal level, nonetheless.
So if this really were the last year, my last year, your last year, our last year, what would that change? I decided to make that my philosophical and creative project for the year - to approch 2012 as though I knew I had only 12 months to live.
I realize that this is an arbitary construct. But so many things that we build on are, aren't they? And, really, if you think about it, no one knows when they're ticket's getting punched. Lord knows, I've had my share of close calls.
To be sure, I am somewhat more intimately aquainted with death than many people. I've been present for the passings of several family members. I've worked as a Deputy Coroner. I've taken my share of Anatomy courses involving dissection. Those who have seen my house know what I collect taxidermy animals and own an array of skulls and articulated skeletons. Yet it is the undiscovered country. Is everything we do in life just a preparation for what comes next, a training ground, if you will, to give us the skill to make an elegant leap into the next phase? Or do we just stop?
Does the aswer to the question of "what comes next" or, even, "is there a next" impact the now?
Should it even enter into the equation at all?
These are some of the questions I will be exploring here. I'll also be looking at what stays, what goes, what I decide to do or not do. Because, when you only have a limited amount of time, "Well, it will be good enough for now", suddenly isn't.
Technically, we all have a limited amount of time.
Don't waste it.
