Reflections on impermanence

"We're all going to die, all of us. What a circus! That alone should make us love each other, but it doesn't. We are terrorized and flattened by life's trivialities; we are eaten up by nothing." - Charles Bukowski

Sounds depressing upon first read, I know. But hidden in this remorseful exclamation at the emptiness of human behavior, is also a bit of hope: What we fear most, while it often divides and desensitizes us (according to Bukowski), CAN be what roots us in our most loving, connected life experience, if we dare to look it in the eye. Peering bravely into the darkness of our lives (whether it's our own looming death, the death of others, the unknown-ness of our future, a fear of failure) immediately sheds light there, and thus allows us to move more open-eyed, inspired by--rather than in denial of--our fleeting time here. Getting a good look at the inevitability of our life's end keeps us from unconsciously running from it, and makes us more available to the potential of now.

It will likely take a while for me to become truly grounded in my mortality. But in the moments I am, it makes the path towards growth, love, towards becoming more conscious, seem like the only way forward.