Ah yes. The grim monks of this order often remind the young ones: the skull cup is always at your table, so drink your tea while the hand is still warm.
Time waits for no enlightenment, and no one else will live your life for you, no matter how many polite scripts or safe milestones are offered.
So yes, dear traveler, live stubbornly, wildly, wisely. And when Death smiles, smile back with a mouth still tasting the life you chose.
Truth is sharp and blunt. Beautifully ugly, and full of joyful sadness. Our lives can only have meaning through what we feel, express and how our choices lead it to mean. If we worry about tomorrow all day today, we are killing today for a day that may never come.
The trysts and trials of time embattle us if we let it, but the battlefield is in our minds, which we can open up and make so large that we can travel through time itself.
Great essay. Ever read the picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde? VERY good contextualization of death vs. living forever (with pithy insites on every page).
I have found that it has taken me years of reminding myself of the shortness of life to pivot more towards a more intentional type of living as reflected in your essay.....to walk the path less traveled....
One of my best friends died in an auto accident the day before yesterday. I’m speaking at his memorial service and plan to use your 3rd paragraph (the plane turbulence reference) in my comments. Your words perfectly summarize how my friend lived his life.
I’ve been looking into mr Sartre more recently, I really enjoy reading his thoughts so far. I really enjoyed this post as I think a similar way. I’ve noticed people around me view life as a ladder; they MUST get to the top of it or they never really succeed. I am more of a find happiness in the small things, do what makes you happy, not necessarily following societal constructs.
Thanks for suggesting a new author I love this subject. And I listened to a physicist today on audio his name is Tom Campbell and he talked about how we learn from mistakes, similar to a computer.
One of the main things Greene summarized from his time with 50 Cent is, develop a sense of urgency. You don't get forever. Curtis Jackson got this from that early attempt on his life and he let it change him. We all need some version of this.
I also like Bukowski's quote on it:
People are strange: They are constantly angered by trivial things, but on a major matter like totally wasting their lives, they hardly seem to notice.
It is important we embrace our inevitable death and use it as a lens with which to navigate now. I find it is especially useful for prioritization as that is an area most of us need to improve upon. Know you will one day be dead certainly puts much of the bullshit in perspective.
I agree with your suggestion in the piece; find what you want, then start working towards it. Begin today and let it guide you. Again, a burning passion assists in pruning the irrelevant, especially if you face resistance or have doubts. None of those doubts will matter in the long run.
I remember in the book Iron John it was important to steal the key from under the mother’s pillow not ask for it. We learn from our own mistakes. That is death and rebirth in this life time and probably the next.
This lands hard — not just because it’s true, but because it’s spoken plainly.
I love the way you pull from ancient philosophy and rap without hesitation — not to perform cleverness, but to anchor survival.
There’s something sacred in that.
Where I’m writing from, the conversation’s similar — agency not as “getting it all together,” but as recovery from the scripts that never belonged to us.
For working-class men especially, we’re often not losing agency — we’re waking up to the fact it was never really granted.
On my substack, I write about what comes after burnout.
About rebuilding trust in the self after years of noise, performance, and quiet obedience.
Not motivation. Not hustle. Just returning.
Appreciate this piece deeply.
You’re naming things many of us have only just found the language for.
Ah yes. The grim monks of this order often remind the young ones: the skull cup is always at your table, so drink your tea while the hand is still warm.
Time waits for no enlightenment, and no one else will live your life for you, no matter how many polite scripts or safe milestones are offered.
So yes, dear traveler, live stubbornly, wildly, wisely. And when Death smiles, smile back with a mouth still tasting the life you chose.
Virgin Monk Boy
Well done!
Truth is sharp and blunt. Beautifully ugly, and full of joyful sadness. Our lives can only have meaning through what we feel, express and how our choices lead it to mean. If we worry about tomorrow all day today, we are killing today for a day that may never come.
The trysts and trials of time embattle us if we let it, but the battlefield is in our minds, which we can open up and make so large that we can travel through time itself.
Very well written
Great content and wonderfully written. Words to revisit often; thank you!
Great essay. Ever read the picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde? VERY good contextualization of death vs. living forever (with pithy insites on every page).
I have found that it has taken me years of reminding myself of the shortness of life to pivot more towards a more intentional type of living as reflected in your essay.....to walk the path less traveled....
Aging should be welcomed.
To experience the joys and sorrows of growing old, is to be blessed with the essence of what it means to be human.
Excellent read. Thank you for your words.
Im sixty six and i remember when I thought that was old, yet now I feel young.
When it comes to dying, I remember the quote from Woody Allen, im not afraid of dying just dont want to be there when it happens.
I think age really is just a number. It’s all about our perspective on how old we believe we are. Old and age are two distinct terms in some sense.
Thank you for this. Perfect timing.
One of my best friends died in an auto accident the day before yesterday. I’m speaking at his memorial service and plan to use your 3rd paragraph (the plane turbulence reference) in my comments. Your words perfectly summarize how my friend lived his life.
Thank you, again. ❤️
I’m sorry about your friend Jeff. My condolences 💐 . Yes, you’re free to use it.
What a great post. Both factual and truthful. Thank you for this.
❤️👍Thanks for your stoic content. Life gets so busy and then you pop up and it’s always a pleasure.
I’ve been looking into mr Sartre more recently, I really enjoy reading his thoughts so far. I really enjoyed this post as I think a similar way. I’ve noticed people around me view life as a ladder; they MUST get to the top of it or they never really succeed. I am more of a find happiness in the small things, do what makes you happy, not necessarily following societal constructs.
Thanks for suggesting a new author I love this subject. And I listened to a physicist today on audio his name is Tom Campbell and he talked about how we learn from mistakes, similar to a computer.
Yes you pay the taxes of your choices if you live long enough. Live fast die young is about avoiding the taxes.
good as in great........
I love that you explain the same concept through many voices. Somewhere along the way we all get it.
Actually I have paid many taxes in life that I should not.
Metaphorically and not.
I grow up.
Body changed and cannot deal with it .
Keep writing ✍️
Really like this post
💙🫶❤️ beautiful way to put things such a beautiful way I am going to put this as my go to motto for the rest of my days thank you
One of the main things Greene summarized from his time with 50 Cent is, develop a sense of urgency. You don't get forever. Curtis Jackson got this from that early attempt on his life and he let it change him. We all need some version of this.
I also like Bukowski's quote on it:
People are strange: They are constantly angered by trivial things, but on a major matter like totally wasting their lives, they hardly seem to notice.
It is important we embrace our inevitable death and use it as a lens with which to navigate now. I find it is especially useful for prioritization as that is an area most of us need to improve upon. Know you will one day be dead certainly puts much of the bullshit in perspective.
I agree with your suggestion in the piece; find what you want, then start working towards it. Begin today and let it guide you. Again, a burning passion assists in pruning the irrelevant, especially if you face resistance or have doubts. None of those doubts will matter in the long run.
There’s a defiance here that feels less like reverence for the self.
Got me wondering: what would we build if we actually trusted our own wiring instead of constantly outsourcing permission?
⬖ Translated from a gut feeling at Frequency of Reason: https://tinyurl.com/39hx4kjv
I remember in the book Iron John it was important to steal the key from under the mother’s pillow not ask for it. We learn from our own mistakes. That is death and rebirth in this life time and probably the next.
This lands hard — not just because it’s true, but because it’s spoken plainly.
I love the way you pull from ancient philosophy and rap without hesitation — not to perform cleverness, but to anchor survival.
There’s something sacred in that.
Where I’m writing from, the conversation’s similar — agency not as “getting it all together,” but as recovery from the scripts that never belonged to us.
For working-class men especially, we’re often not losing agency — we’re waking up to the fact it was never really granted.
On my substack, I write about what comes after burnout.
About rebuilding trust in the self after years of noise, performance, and quiet obedience.
Not motivation. Not hustle. Just returning.
Appreciate this piece deeply.
You’re naming things many of us have only just found the language for.
Let’s stay with it.