Inspiration

Or, should I say, my thoughts exactly.  It's just that I'm pretty sure I'd never have had the guts to say it in public.  It just sounds so negative, down-right un-American, to speak about death in such an honest, unforgiving way.  So, thank you, Steve Jobs, for saying something so raw, and so true, that may only be comprehended by those who have lost a loved one or experienced an event that challenged mortality and survived, to live another day.

Almost everything–all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure–these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.” – Steve Jobs’ Stanford Commencement Address

There are many ways to live a life, many paths and turns of the corner.  Some of the most satisfying come from taking the unanticipated twists and turns.  Others, the very well-planned and eagerly anticipated.  But, in either case, living one's own life and not that of someone else, as Jobs also spoke of in that same commencement address, is most satisfying, as I am finding out in each of these surprising moments I am lucky enough to be experiencing right now in Paris.