YEAR OF ZEN: SUMMER: DAY 32

Self-Portrait with Death Playing the Fiddle - Arnold Böcklin

Q: How does getting older teach you? Has encountering death ever brought life to your life?

A: I have felt older this year, with my body not bouncing back as quickly from pain as it has in the past. It is teaching me patience and compassion for myself as well as the need to approach things a little more slowly and thoughtfully. And, yes, I would say that death has brought life to my experience. It has provided clarity and awareness. Mindfulness of it has also made it easier to forgive and live free of the type of human complications that I really do not want to carry with me to the grave.