When the student is ready...
When the student is ready the teacher arrives. In my case the teacher has come in the form of a book. As soon as I decided to live next year as if I only have A YEAR TO LIVE, I came across a book by Stephen Levine. For over twenty years Stephen and his wife Ondrea have worked gracefully, courageously and creatively to help thousands of people approach their own death with peace, honesty, and an open heart. I have admired their work for many years. The book I found is aptly called A Year to Live.
Turns out my idea is not knew. Stephen lived a year as if it was his last. This book shares his experiences and offers ideas, meditations, and practical advice for living each moment, hour and day mindfully.
Most teachers and spiritual guides from Jesus, Buddha, and Socrates to current day teachers like Eckhart Tolle and Adyashante teach us to practice dying before we die. I've never really understood what is meant by that, but I'm hoping to unravel that mystery over the next year.
I'm hoping that living with this sense of urgency will create a radical shift in consciousness - am I wanting too much? Perhaps. But my experience of those who've been close to death is that a shift does happen. Hearts open, truths are told, loved is expressed, fears are shed - at least for those who are ready to embrace the next adventure.
I've also been with one friend for whom the opposite was true. He shut down as fear overtook the man he use to be. It was heartbreaking. I'm not sure if he was filled with regret, or what it was he feared, but his last days were torturous to witness. I can't imagine how horrible it was to be him during that time.
I don't want to get to the end of my life overwhelmed by fear or filled with regret. But I'm not doing this experiment because of what I don't want. I'm not a person with many regrets, and I'm pretty good at facing my fears and doing things that scare me. In fact one of the reasons I know this experiment is right for me is because it scares me, and I like to explore my fears all the way through to the other side. But mainly I'm doing this experiment to see how much richer, fuller, and deeper my life might become.
Perhaps my life will change in bold and wonderful ways. I'll become a source of joy and inspiration to those around me. Possibly nothing will change and I'll discover that what I have now is as good as it gets. Or maybe I'll find the whole thing is just too damn hard, and I'm not really up to the challenge. That's what makes it an experiment.
Would you like to join me on this journey? Since telling others of my plan, nine people have agreed to also live 2010 as if they only have A YEAR TO LIVE. We're starting January 1st and I'd love to have you join our experiment. If you are interested, let me know.
Labels: A Year to Live, Bcelebrated, Experiment, Stephen Levine
posted by Bcelebrated @ 2:11 PM
3 Comments:
I have had the rare opportunity to hear of the work of BCelebrated from a close friend as it has grown from concept to physical form. And while I have understood the foundation for the reason of creating this site, I have never felt comfortable with the concept of death. From my time as a young child, I have always had an abnormal and irrational fear of death that often left me in tears at night regardless of how my parents tried to assure me that I was safe.
As an adult, I have learned how to live with intention (and therefore without regret). I have learned how to embrace pain and joy, these days simultaneously. And I have died many times in a spiritual and emotional sense only to be reborn again in a much stronger and more empowering way.
Funny that I should sign in to Twitter tonight and see this particular link . . . at a time when everything that I felt I knew about myself and my life has been flipped upside down and I am being asked to have faith as I give birth to myself again . . . this time without being able to understand what the best or worst case scenario could be, only being capable of knowing 'what is' in this moment. And in this, also knowing that the work that I'm being asked to do now is my destiny, if I choose to step into this process and allow the limitations and constraints that I've placed on myself to die.
I'm taking steps that some would consider a 'death'. And I feel compelled to express my interest in being part of the group of people who pledge to live 2010 as if this year were their last. I will buy the book this weekend and read it through.
Melissa, It's such an honor that you feel drawn to join this experiment with us. I love the synchronicity of life that's experienced regularly when we live with intention, as you clearly do. I hope you'll post freely about your journey.
Indeed synchronicity is quite beautiful. And it can also be quite astounding when you have the opportunity to revisit it in writing. Thank you for posting this and for inviting all of us into the fold.
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