Forty
five years ago, Joni Mitchell wrote a song called Big Yellow Taxi, which had
nothing to do with one, except she rode in it from the airport to a hotel,
opened up the curtains in her room, saw the beautiful mountains in the distance
and the parking lot below her. “Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know
what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone. They paved Paradise and put up a parking lot.”
As I get older, and am forced to pay more
attention to the mortality around me, I decided to reverse the ‘I don’t know
what you’ve got portion’ in my life. It started when I lost my father in late
January. Actually, it started when he lost his quality of life several years ago
after a life threatening bout of double pneumonia after bypass and valve replacement
surgery. He never really recovered and his life went to shit in the three or
four years after. During those years, I have been to two funerals of friends
since junior high, had another friend die in a car accident, have been notified
of friends battling cancers of all types from lung and bladder, to ovarian, and
bone, have watched friends battle dementia and Alzheimer’s with their parents, watched
other friends lose parents, spouses, and children, and then this morning heard
from my baby brother that next week he is having that ol’ ‘let’s put a camera
in you and take a look at your heart because we think there is blockage’
procedure. He mentioned that it was in
late June when our mom died and also when our dad had his heart surgery that
eventually led to his demise. Scary as
all shit.
So, my friends, please join
me in ‘noticing what you’ve got.’
Watch the clouds form
horsies and ducks in the sky.
Listen to the laughter of unseen
children playing somewhere in the neighborhood.
Revel in the love people
have for music, even if it’s not your cup of tea.
Worship the printed word in
the form of books.
Pray for others, and for
yourself, and for the world to have more love and less hate.
Close your eyes and enjoy
the taste of a freshly picked, red, ripe, and juicy tomato.
If it isn’t lightning, stand
in the rain and laugh.
Dance in it if you can.
Say hello to a stranger –
you might be the smile that lifts their darkness.
Perform many acts of random
kindness.
Celebrate friends and
family.
Celebrate yourself.
Quit worrying about later,
because today is the present, and it is indeed the most wonderful present we
can have.
