my e-mail signature quotes the 16th century astronomer Tycho Brahe who said:
"let me not seem to have lived in vain"
a friend recently asked what living in vain means to me, i answered:
for me living in vain would mean
not making my own rules;
not risking because i am afraid
not making an extra effort
not listening to my self
not paying attention to the world whirling around me
not playing more often than i work, not working as hard i play
not allowing desire to carry me away
not getting lost (on purpose)
not challenging myself to find my way home, halfway through this lifelong journey
not loving
not learning
not laughing more than others would have me love, learn and laugh
not taking a bath simply because a shower is faster
not going after what i desire most
not delighting in all that i boast inspires me, fires me up and drives me to experience life as only i can experience it
not believing and dreaming and acting as if i in fact drive my own destiny
not making others believe the make-believe and the myth that i am
not absconding mediocrity and complacency and apathy when i can
not being a lover and an explorer and one with a few others as intimately as I am with my self and the world
and perhaps most of all—
not writing.
ne frustra vixisse videar
che non abbia vissuto invano
må jag ej synas ha levat förgäves
creio que não tenho vivido debalde
que no parezca que he vivido en vano
lat ei segjast ad lif mitt hafi verid til einskins
let me not seem to have lived in vain
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l.m