Why does your life matter?
Have you ever stopped to question modern life, our busy, productivity-crazed hallowing of gladness? Is a meaningful life an accumulation of objects and accolades or rather a fine, chiseling away of all the extraneous conditioning, revealing at its heart the immaterial but no less substantial movements of kindness, creativity, gratitude and love?
Ever since our friend Jacqueline was diagnosed with a rare, terminal blood cancer—Polycythemia Vera—she has been on her own journey of "un-selfing." She was ready to live "poor and happy" upon retirement from a long career as a satirist and school teacher. What surprised her is she's now "poor and happy with cancer." With “Poly's” hand in hers, she has become intimate with her mortality, examining what truly matters and falling in love with the tragic, exquisite mystery of life.
Jacqueline’s quiet, deeply connected and reverent path is a gift to this world. We’re all human, we’re all unfixed, we’re all mortal. In a culture that’s so scared of death, aging, and suffering of any kind, her reflections on why life matters is a balm for our empty souls. She says with a gentle laugh "It's not that hard. What makes me happy are the trees and the brook when it's running full and the momma deer by the pond with her fawn and knowing the feeders are full on a cold morning. It's so simple compared to what our society would have us believe."
Please nourish your soul with this 7 minute short film on Jacqueline's story and how her diagnosis became the vehicle to unleash the radiance of her inner life.
Ah, she's a wonder. 'I want my last exhale to be love' – I'm carrying that with me.
What a gift she is! I know it sounds cliché, but in the end love is what matters most to us.