March 6, 2008
-
If you knew you only had one week to live, what would you do with that time?
Welll I have this constantly evolving “in the event of my death” document that I’ve been writing, deleting, rewriting, altering, writing in my head, for like forever. It contains a lot of personal messages to the people I care about. And a lot of pointless drivel about what I want to have done with my stuff after I die and what I want my funeral to be like and all that jazz.
So I guess if I have a week left, the first thing I have to do is figure out who I’m going to share the password to that document with and who to give instructions to read it and distribute the relevant portions to the people who need to receive it.
I usually have an idea of who that will be in my head. It’s usually whomever I consider to be my best friend at the time. I have no idea who that will be by the time I start to be dying. And I’m not entirely sure I know who that is right now. But whoever it is, I’d entrust with the safety and proper handlement of that document. Assuming I haven’t deleted it lately. I do that about once a year or so…
So after that then what to do with my full week of joyful waiting? Hmm.
I know. I’m going to rent a bus. Maybe several buses. Then I’m going to gather together everyone I’ve ever known and cared about even the slightest tiniest bit. Even the people I’ve never met. Even the people I haven’t seeen since I was a little kid. Everyone I can get a hold of. Friends. Family. And I’ll tell them to drop everything and come with me. No matter what they’re doing. Just *drop it* and come.
I won’t tell them I’m dying. I’ll just say that this is the last and only favor I will ever ask of them. And I’ll tell them that there has never been any event more important to me. So if they care, or they’re just curious they should just come. No excuses. Just come.
And then we’re going to go on a cross country trip. All of us. Together. We’re gonna just drive and drive and get to know each other and have fun. Don’t know where we’re going and don’t care. By the end of the trip I want everyone I’ve ever known to truly know one another. And be real friends. Despite all their disparate backgrounds and radically variant personalities. We’re all human and I believe we can all reach a common ground.
And so maybe that can be my legacy. Building community and friendship amongst the people I care about….
Of course there’s a chance nobody will respond. That everyone will be too busy with their lives and what not.
In that case I’m just going to go to the library. And literaly read until I drop dead.
I just answered this Featured Question, you can answer it too!
Comments (3)
Welll I have this constantly evolving “in the event of my death” document that I’ve been writing, deleting, rewriting, altering, writing in my head, for like forever.
Wow. It’s good that you have such wide perspective of your life.
Hmm. I have a living will, but it needs altering, some editing, so I guess it’s like your document.
And yea. That library idea of yours… I might do that. Hopefully, I’ll get to read ALL the books I want to read before I die. *hugs*
And your bus idea… dude, you might die in the middle of that… in a bus!? Cross-country trip? You should do that now.. and stop by Indianapolis while you’re at it! *smiles*
A week to live… I’d just want to live. Quite literally spend my last waking hours awake. And living. *nods* Yea, that sounds like a plan to me.
Hmm… I like the bus idea. I can’t really relate to reading until I die idea, but I agree that it’s important to do what will bring you joy, and it’s really cool that you know what you that is. That’s also quite a bit more planning than I’ve ever made. It’s an interesting FQ to to answer, so I’ll probably respond after I think about it a bit more for myself.
Here’s the gist so far tho:
Get those “These will bug me” things out of the way. You know… like… YouTubing the clips to video game RPG I didn’t finish… Watch the movies I really wanted to get to… Convince the writers to reveal the ending of whatever series I’m hooked on at that moment (if it were now it would be Lost).
When people are together, get to the important things. Forgiving. Sharing stories so that we can fully understand each other.
Maintain some basic activities of living. I would still probably sleep, tho less. I would still want to have some regular meals, as well as eat out. I’d still probably think about what to wear.
Express and create. Make an artwork. Write something. Play music.