I moved from the US to Greece and the way even people here talk about Ikaria is amazing. Weddings are a whole-island event. They dance and dance and dance. And are usually late to their own weddings at the church.
Priorities have been skewed all around the world and it's about rewriting our own to match what works best for us.
Really appreciate the piece. Very well written and super thoughtful.
Also, what is a good death? The two questions feel inseparable to me.
There’s a quote I always think about with these questions. It comes from a eulogy that an Army soldier wrote for himself a year before his death in the Vietnam War. Dropping it here:
“We all have but one death to spend, and insofar as it can have any meaning, it finds it in the service of comrades in arms.
And yet, I deny that I died FOR anything - not my country, not my Army, not my fellow man, none of these things. I LIVED for these things, and the manner in which I chose to do it involved the very real chance that I would die in the execution of my duties.”
I wrote something similar recently, about the idea of life itself being far more important than a full bank account. I enjoyed the callback to the days of being coddled for making a mistake rather than possibly imprisoned for it. Here’s to working less and living more!
I moved from the US to Greece and the way even people here talk about Ikaria is amazing. Weddings are a whole-island event. They dance and dance and dance. And are usually late to their own weddings at the church.
Priorities have been skewed all around the world and it's about rewriting our own to match what works best for us.
Really appreciate the piece. Very well written and super thoughtful.
Really fun! And thoughtful. Thank you!
What is the good life?
Also, what is a good death? The two questions feel inseparable to me.
There’s a quote I always think about with these questions. It comes from a eulogy that an Army soldier wrote for himself a year before his death in the Vietnam War. Dropping it here:
“We all have but one death to spend, and insofar as it can have any meaning, it finds it in the service of comrades in arms.
And yet, I deny that I died FOR anything - not my country, not my Army, not my fellow man, none of these things. I LIVED for these things, and the manner in which I chose to do it involved the very real chance that I would die in the execution of my duties.”
Really really enjoyed this!
Thank you, Skylar!
I wrote something similar recently, about the idea of life itself being far more important than a full bank account. I enjoyed the callback to the days of being coddled for making a mistake rather than possibly imprisoned for it. Here’s to working less and living more!
John, we have things ass backwards!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this.
Thanks Amanda. I’m glad you are out there. I still think of the story you did on Pocket Forests. We need such hopeful stories.
Thank you! We're working on a wildflower planting plan now.
“I miss the days of wearing diapers.” 😂 Is that a Whitman quote, too, or is that your own poetic brilliance?
Don’t we all, privately? 😆
The words definitely kindled a certain warm, squishy sense of recognition for me.
Hahahaha!
So you’re the “man… of wonderful vigor [and] calmness” he’s talking about!
“Whatever the sea and the sail he strikes soundings.”
What a song, Lou!