A near-death experience Tuesday of the random, absurd and totally unexpected variety.
Most people, including me, assume there will be conscious time to deal with the end, but that simply ain’t so for many sudden deaths, most notably in the news this week–the two kids strangled by a python in their sleep and the poor guy in Montreal who was taken out by a falling piece of metal as he walked along minding his own biz. In my own case, inches and milliseconds.
Which brought back memories of the Cuban missile crisis of old (commented on 32 pages before in the Nov. 12/12 blog entry) when everyone on the planet was at one minute to midnight (total planetary atomic war annihilation). As Sting sang, “How fragile we are”. Personally and globally.
Many of us know that those closest to us will not necessarily be here tomorrow. The same is true of and for ourselves. We each of us also have unrealized dreams, talents, and potential, which makes transitory possibilities and one-time opportunities so much more important. What Joseph Campbell talked about as The Call (in The Power of Myth–his best book, and the popular tv series) is always to be heeded.