Member-only story
Instructions for Those Planning to Attend My funeral
…and anyone who has ever faced loss or is alive right now
First things first. I’m fine. I don’t plan to die soon. I hope I live for a very very long time to come. It will become clear why I chose the headline I did (and I hope I haven’t worried anyone — it wasn’t my intention).
We all think everything will stay the same forever. The abilities and resources at our disposal, the wider state of safety and security around us. The people in our lives.
All of these taken together we perceive as a bare minimum. A foundation on which we try to build the best life possible.
Like a tourist being pickpocketed, we’re so focused on the amazing location we’re in (and the possibilities it holds for us), that we don’t hold on tightly enough to our valuables.
Things. People. Eras. They disappear, sometimes without warning.
I think this is the essence of loss — how integral that person, situation or thing was to who and what we are… and now there’s just a hole. And that hole, often, changes everything.
Think back to the unsuspecting tourist who has just had their wallet snatched. What was about to be a lovely day taking in the sights, sounds and tastes of one of the world’s great…
