December 22, 2011. I watched A Christmas Carol with my students today, the last day before holiday break. I was struck, of course, that Scrooge’s epiphany was not fully realized until he faced two deaths–Tiny Tim’s and his own. It turns out that Dicken’s was the original give-up-and-die gangster. And now every year at Christmas, millions of us watch his famous story, and we all reflect on our impending doom and therefore remember what really matters.
Take some holiday time to meditate on your own eminent death which will be coming in five minutes of fifty years (give or take), and then go celebrate in a way that really matters. My favorite tradition is putting a big stupid tree in the middle of my tiny house and decorating it with lights. How frivolous! I can’t believe we adults still do it. It’s awesome.
Here are some past posts that will get you to reflect on death.
Give Up and Die…you’ll be glad you did. And Merry Christmas (or Happy Holidays or Happy Hanukkah or whatever you celebrate).
