Before you read this, it might bear some explaining. Right
now I am in the midst of writing one of the most difficult things I have ever
undertaken.
My idea
was to create a letter to all the people that have impacted my life, for better
and for worse. Then these essays were to be combined and saved as a bit of a
legacy for the day when I am not around any longer.
Ambitious,
certainly. A bit macabre, perhaps. A bit over the top, definitely. However, the
thought of not being here for the people that I care about most, the inkling of
leaving something worthwhile, or important unsaid chills me. I want to get it
all out there, down on paper, as best as I can articulate it, so they too have
something to hold onto.
Which
brings me to what follows; this is the section that covers everyone in the
world that I don’t know. Yes, that’s right since everyone I know well will have
their own letter, in an effort to cover all my bases I’ve also written one as a
catch all for the entire human race.
That’s
not to say that I don’t think there’s value in what follows- quite the opposite.
Though brief, I believe these three
points speak volumes.
But I suppose
now that I’ve shared this you can be the judge of what comes next, and this
whole crazy endeavor…
A Letter to the
World
For all the people that I haven’t met,
which I guess is most of you. I would like to share three things. Yes, I understand
that this writing is supposed to epitomize and represent the pinnacle of my
time on earth. But I also know that people like simplicity, and in this time of
internet memes and 140 character statements, brevity is a prized skill…
What follows are three tenets that I’d
like everyone to remember and carry with them from here on out:
1) The human race won’t be destroyed by disease
or war; we will be content to do ourselves in on convenience and distraction.
2) Somewhere along the line we’ve confused
being tough with not giving a shit.
3) We shouldn’t get so caught up in how other
people live their lives as long as they are A) not hurting anyone else B) they
are happy.
You know as well as I do, that I could go on (and on
and on) but I think the above is sufficient. It’s here I will the culmination of
my worldly wisdom I have on to everyone, and hope that it is at least a
starting point for people to build from.
Humbly, I step
into the shadow now without complaint.
David
