Passionate Mondays

Whew! This is going to be one of my toughest posts yet. I'll jump right into it - my Mom has less than two weeks to live and I'm headed up to Santa Barbara to be with her and my Dad through these final days. What a genuine privilege for me. I've spoken or written to many people these last few weeks about death, and the saddest stories I've heard are about the people that could not be with their parents when they died. Again, I feel privileged, but also comforted, knowing that going through this experience, I am just like every other human being out there. So, my personal struggle is how to maintain my passion for life, my presence in the moment while going through this trying time? How can I inspire myself and others to lead passionate lives? (I will warn you now, given my fuzzy-state-of-mind, I'm not certain if I can express clearly enough what I am feeling, but will give it a try.)

Today, I am choosing doors as my way to find my passion. Right about now you are saying to yourself, "Doors! What the *(&%#$@ is she talking about?" Stay with me, okay? I have a friend, Christie, who is a beautiful writer and person. Like me, she is fascinated by doors and windows. I wish I had her exact words here, because they would be so much more profound than mine, but she describes doors and windows as portals or passages to...

places
times
the soul
beginnings
incredible views
possibilities
transitions
changes
learning
the future

At this moment in my life, I am poised on a doorway, about to leave this time period of summoning up courage and fearlessness as I help my mom and ready to enter another phase of life, sans mother. This doorway marks a specific passage in life and in time for me.

I also have another way of using doors as a metaphor to view this death and dying process. One of my favorite sayings is that whenever one door closes, another one opens. When one life passes through that portal where only the dying go, and the door closes leaving loved ones behind, I like to believe that they are leaving us another open door, or an opportunity. We have a chance to take the lessons learned through the dying process to help us live more fully - to walk through that new, open door. I know everyone feels this phenomenon when they experience the death of a loved one - those lessons that scream at us in the moment to make everyday count, to make life count, to live life to its fullest because we have no guarantee of time. Sadly, few hold onto those feelings permanently. I am praying that I will be one of those few.

Just the other day, my sister's spiritual teacher reminded her of a similar lesson about living fully, siting the example that we usually only greet dear friends and loved ones enthusiastically when we haven't seen them for a long while. Why don't we greet them enthusiastically, with passion, every time we see them? We never know when it may be our last chance to show them our love.

I feel comfort in knowing that I am not alone in either process - losing a parent or struggling with how to live more passionately. As human beings, we all share the same challenges. We all face the same doorway and have a choice whether or not to pass through it - the door marked "To a Passionate Life" or "Make Each Day Count". I hope I remember to always choose that door and to step through it everyday.

Which doorway are you poised to pass through? Which portal are you afraid to enter? Do you have an image of a window or doorway that inspires passion for life for you?


Have a passionate Monday (and life) and don't forget to make today and everyday count and let your loved ones know that you are happy to be sharing life's journey with them.