Look out! He's got a knife!

It Is Later Than You Think

As much as all things are subjective, beauty in particular is in the eye of the beholder. So if you can't see it... it's not there.

I am not afraid of my own death, but I am terrified of other people's.

American Beauty was full of shit. Yes there is beauty in the every day; but in my eyes a dead body has lost beauty, not gained it. If only Chevy Chase had not pulled out of the lead role, this movie would likely today have the reputation it deserves. (Kevin Spacey is a brilliant actor, but it's interesting that both the movies he has won Oscars for are glib masquerading as deep.)

Death is over-romanticized. Death is not the opposite of life - it is merely the absence of life. (Much as dark is not the opposite of light; try asking a physicist about "the speed of dark" sometime.)

Everything that makes us special and beautiful and unique ends with death.¹ That's fine by me, for myself. I can't see anything in myself that is so precious and unique that it deserves to endure while everything else atrophies. However I am unhappy when I consider that there are some unique and precious people whose company I will never enjoy again.

Death kills. That's all it does. It ends potential. It ends beauty - if beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and the beholder dies, there is no beauty.

And yet despite death, life goes on. So live. Don't just hang around waiting for the day to end, enjoy it while it lasts.

If you love someone, tell them now. Maybe you won't die before you get a chance, but then again maybe they will.

*ahem* Just felt the need to share. Enjoy the rest of your day.

_{1. Unless you subscribe to one of these foolish afterlife/reincarnation religions.}

Posted by joey at June 6, 2006 4:54 PM