Have You Ever...

This might sound morbid, but have you ever written your obituary?

A few years ago, I had a rather memorable experience at the DMV in Culver City, Los Angeles. Strange, I know. All of my prior DMV encounters were in New York and they were pretty miserable, so my expectations were low. 

On this particular visit, the line wrapped around the block— it was going to be a while before even getting to the front door. Pretty standard, I thought. I came prepared to bury my nose in a book, but everyone around me was so lovely, they made conversation and shared their seats while we waited. A mural on the outside of the building, called "Moonscapes" talked about the interconnectedness of people and the universe. The vibe was unlike any DMV experience I had ever had. When I finally made it inside, the entire DMV staff had stopped everything to sing happy birthday to an employee, and many of the customers chimed in. The tone was jovial and communal, it really was other-worldly, especially for a DMV.

As I sat with my book and waited for my number to be called, the author shared about an exercise she had done, writing her obituary. Maybe it had something to do with the energy of the whole experience so far, but then and there I got out a piece of paper and drafted my obituary. It felt like as good a time as any to reflect on my life and what I had made of it so far, what was important to me and how I had directed my energy to those things (or not). It was incredibly illuminating.

Recently, I came upon a book by Bronnie Ware that reminded me of my drafted obituary, now tucked into a bookshelf somewhere. The book is titled, The Top 5 Regrets of the Dying, which, in case you're curious, are:

1. "I wish I'd had the courage to Iive a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me."
2. "I wish I hadn't worked so hard."
3. "I wish I had the courage to express my feelings."
4. "I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends."
5. "I wish I had let myself be happier."

If you're reading this, you're here now, with a life to live. What do you want to make of it? What would you want your obituary to say? 

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