When we Stop Fearing Mortality

When we embrace our mortality we embrace our humanity, and there is the potential of great joy in just being human. I discovered that by spending time with people who were close to death. The honesty, humility, wisdom, and love that emerges during times of vulnerability cracks me open and fills me with awe. That's why we created Bcelebrated - to help people find the simple joy that comes from being human, sharing love, thoughts, and stories.

Our society has embraced a pathological denial of death, an obsession with retaining ones youth, and a compulsion to increase longevity.

A participant in A Year to Live asked me the other day if this project is easier for young people or older people. He's in his 70's and this experiment is causing him to evaluate his life and passions and get clear on the gifts he must share with the world. I don't know the answer to his question, but I assume the experience is more relevant to one in the second half of life than it would be to one in the first half of life.

This participant told me that he'd read studies that it's possible to live to 150 years old and asked what I thought of that. "Why?" was my response. "Why would we want to live to 150 when so few of us are actually living now?" I imagine that evaluating his life as he has done in this experiment, it might be reassuring to have a life expectancy of eighty more years stretched out before him, but there's a sense of urgency that comes when time is running out. A sharpness of focus comes to life when we realize we're nearing the end.

So many of us live our lives unconsciously, driven by our habits and fears. Pushing the finish line farther away is what so many people are trying to do now, and it doesn't seem to be giving their life meaning.

Cherishing my human experiences, accepting what comes my way, relishing my relationships, and nurturing my connection to all that is divine becomes the core of my life when I embrace my own mortality and realize that I won't have 100 more years to enjoy my life. I may only have today.

Happy Mother's Day

Everywhere you turn, advertisers are reminding you that tomorrow is Mother's Day, and flowers, chocolates, spa treatments - or whatever it is they're selling - is what your mom wants most. They're all wonderful ideas, but have you every thought about what your mom really wants - and I don't mean just for Mother's Day.

How well do you know your mom?

Have you ever spent time asking her questions, the way you would with a potential friend or a date? Do you know what makes her happy? What frightens her? What her hopes and dreams are? What are her favorite memories? What does she consider to be her greatest success? What's the best advice she ever received? If she had her life to live over again, what other paths would she explore? Is there a secret desire she's never shared, that she might tell you if you were really interested?

This is a wonderful time to really get to know your mom in a deeper way before it's too late. Life is a finite experience for us all. Make the best of it.

• Take advantage of our special. Buy your mom a Bcelebrated site for only $25.00 until May 15th - by entering the code Mother when you purchase a lifetime membership. Capture your mom's story, her legacy, and her love.
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• Create a private page on your Bcelebrated site for anyone who's mothered you. Express your appreciation and love, so they will have it forever.