The art of dying

“Death is very likely the single best invention of Life” said Steve Jobs during the Stanford speech, one of the most beautiful talks about life I heard, and one I particularly like to listen every now and then.

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

The future end is actually something we should remember to fully enjoy our present.
Another inspiration about the art of living, comes from the book “The Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing“, where a nurse working with terminally ill patients summarize the more commons regrets that people have at the end of their life:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

Is there an art of dying?

I don’t see it. Death is a tool to help us living for real, but I wouldn’t  waste my time waiting to meet the “tall, dark stranger” that we’ll all meet one day.

In Japan, where Cloudio is now, the legend say that elderly leave their home to go to die somewhere, on top of a mountain or in a forest,  in order not to disgrace their families.

I leave with a video from Adam Shaw worth more than 333 words:

Ciao

Subject for post #9: what I appreciate in people.