like you'll live forever

I've heard it said:

"Live like you'll die tomorrow; dream like you'll live forever."

To be honest, it's always bothered me. I understand the sentiment - and the distinction made between living and dreaming - but, in the end, I find it frustrating. Sure, it's a great excuse to be spontaneous or to get excited about some great plans...but how is it actually supposed to influence how I make my decisions?

I'm having trouble thinking about how to live by both of these phrases at the same time. One underscores the limited utility of plans, while the other encourages making them.

When I'm feeling particularly "Carpe Diem," it's hard for me to even justify going to work. What if I do get hit by a bus tomorrow? Wouldn't it have been better to have spent today with friends lying in the park? I should shirk responsibility at every opportunity in favor of an interesting or more enjoyable alternative...right?

Given that tomorrow is never guaranteed, why should I ever be doing something I don't want to be doing as a means to an also-not-guaranteed end?

I know how this reads. Can't I just be independently wealthy and be a hippy for the rest of my life?

(Given the opportunity...would I actually turn it down?)

reminders

it's so easy to settle into a false sense of security when you're living in one of the most liberal cities in the country. (and even when you're not.) i take so much for granted. i very easily - and very often - forget that there are people in the world that harbor a lot of hate, and that no one is entirely safe from that.

a college classmate of mine was recently assaulted in D.C. he has dedicated his life to GLBT activism, and he was severely beaten - for being gay, for being black, for being outspoken, or for any of the above.

discrimination is real.

hate is real.

i want this to stir me. i want to hold on to this shaken feeling that i have, so that i am not so quick to be lulled back into my comfortable bubble.

complacence. is this at the heart of what i'm fighting?

resolutions

I'm going to avoid writing an apology to the blogosphere about not having posted in so long. (Wait, balls...did I just do it anyway?)

15 minutes a day. I can do that.

A collection of today's thoughts, in a not-terribly-well-organized fashion:

1) I have realized that my entire quarter-life crisis is summed up in 4 xkcd comics, at least two of which I have already posted earlier.

www.xkcd.com/59

www.xkcd.com/167

www.xkcd.com/267

www.xkcd.com/308

I owe a lot to Randall Munroe. Thanks for your eloquence.

2) Resolutions. Not a new year, not a new month, not even a new week - but at the very least a new day. And if I post them here, I feel a slightly stronger sense of accountability.

- do NOT get complacent at my (now higher-paying) job at which I am learning nothing

- do NOT get complacent, generally - actively seek out new and interesting things

- do NOT forget that this is, by design, an adventure

- DO cook more

- DO write more

- DO create more (this, I suppose, can be partially satisfied by the previous two bullets)

- DO get over how these resolutions seem trite and cliche and recognize them for their simple truths

Oh, and I'd like to become an expert on whisky/whiskey.