Destruction

“We burn so furious beautiful.” Jack Kerouac wrote that in his novel The Sea is My Brother. It is my favorite piece of his writing. The imagery it conjures in my mind is that of mortality. The pure and absolute destruction we all face with each moment of our lives, closer and closer to that inevitable end. Inevitable. True and terrifying. Face it unflinching? No. Humanity has been hesitant of death since our souls fathomed that time here is finite. Let it be terrifying and let that fear move through you. Let it run its course. We may flinch and pull back at the idea of death and reluctantly pursue our mortality. And yes, we mostly disagree with the prescription we have been bound to in this universe. But what about the moments when that mortality, that finite existence, that destruction of all we love and all we are amplifies the edges and the colors of life? What about those times when the passing moment dials in your heart and your passions for a pursuit or a summit of the mountain you have chosen? What about those moments in life that are remembered again with a smile where your passion and love for another person was the realest thing you ever felt? The music and the words of this world would be nothing without the oblivion that resides beyond. Our moments here in this world, those moments spent in peaceful solitude, or even trembling loneliness, and those moments spent touching and understanding each other, make oblivion bearable. Those moments make mortality a gift unknown to the eternal forces of the universe. It is a gift, a treasure, known only to us. And that makes us powerful and beautiful beyond measure. We must ignite our time on this earth so brilliantly with such violent expression that the gods are envious of our destruction. Burn and breathe into the moments of your life, igniting your love for yourself and for those around you. Seek out the edges and the cutting colors of a place never looked upon. Send your eyes up but do not await the heavens. Your eyes rise above the tree line to tell the heavens “Not yet.” Burn your soul with the fire of mortality and be here.