We don’t die all at once. It happens over time, over years, as our hearts break, as our dreams fade, as we outlive those we love. Failing health is just a part of it. Or maybe failing health is brought on by the collapse of those other things that buoy us throughout our life. 

Time erodes our life and the lives of all we know just as water erodes rock, until all that’s left is a void. 

I know why we die. The mystery is why do we keep living. 

I think it’s a blessing. If you’re aware of the passing of time, the temporary-ness of everything, the profound loss with the passing of every minute, the state of the world and the direction of culture, how can you be anything but deeply sad?

I wish I was oblivious.

Transitions are hard, and are riddled with resistant boundary layers that discourage change. But manifest the change you need to thrive.

Last fall, the world lost a bright light. Mike Thomas and his contagious laugh and brilliant smile and my good friend passed away.

We should’ve gone riding through the desert when we had the chance. You’re missed every day.

Why is negativity so much easier and seductive than hopefulness? Why is destruction so much easier than creation? Why is hate and selfishness so much easier than love and nurturing?

Why is falling easier than standing up?

I have no answers, but positive growth and creation and love and selflessness seem to require tremendous effort, and that shouldn’t be the case.

Since no one reads this, my words have no consequence, but I thought I’d put this out there. Good parenting is simple. Insanely hard, and heartbreaking, but simple.

1. Always do what you say. If you say “do that one more time, and we’re going home,” you had better go home when they do it again. No second chances. Don’t say it if you don’t mean to do it. Teach them that you are a person of your word. This will add weight to all the times you say “I love you.”
2. You’re their parent, not their friend. If you do the parenting thing right, you can be their friend later. Your job is to keep them safe, grow them healthy and smart, expose them to all the world has to offer. Help them discover their talents – math, science, cooking, construction, people skills, whatever. The goal is to raise competent, capable humans that can help others.

I may amend this later..

Why do all things that live have a limited time to do so? Why would nature or the universe impose that kind of restriction?

Birth without death would lead to overcrowding, but then why not evolve a mechanism to limit births? Surely a longer lived – or immortal – species would lead to positive growth, learning from your mistakes.

If evolution through DNA leads to positive changes, why not evolve a mechanism within to create those changes, slowly over time?

Why birth, and death? Why not just birth?

Imagine starting out on a journey, like a hike, except

• You don’t know how long it’ll last
• You don’t know how paved or treacherous the path will be
• You can’t see more than a few steps ahead of you
• And you will lose and gain people you love along the way.

How do you prepare your children for a journey like that?

Prove me wrong.

I feel like help living happily, or even just coping, as you get older and you know your best days are behind you is something no one talks about but everyone needs.

I often think of the astronauts that walked on the moon. How did they cope after that? And how crushed were they living through the demise of NASA, and the shunning of science?

I think we can learn from them, and what we learn might help others (like me).

Why live post-peak?