Life, Death, and the Meaning of it All

Well I will be away from blogging a bit. My dad (Larry) passed away suddenly last Friday at my family’s cabin in northern California. I’m now at home in Yreka among family and friends. Of course, normally this would be a depressing post, but there was little to nothing depressing about my father so instead I just wanted to write short notes on a few things which are very much Larry-esque.
1. Look up! When we go out at night, we just don’t spend time to look at the stars. Stop and look up at the sky (even if you can see but two stars because you live in a smog cloaked sky!) Stars remind us that we live in an amazing and wonderous universe. That those points of light are light years away and that we are small in this universe don’t diminish us but only put outselves in perspective of a greater grandeur. So look up at the stars! Spend an evening freezing yourself in a lawn chair and thinking about perspective. “As for myself, I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of stars makes me dream.” Vincent van Gogh.
2. Find humor and amazement in everything you do. There is nothing which enforces a law of seriousness (well maybe brussel sprouts, but even then, they’re pretty comic, don’t you think?). The human predicament, even in its darkest times, must alway remain a comedy, or a tragecomedy, or at least a bit of learning from the astonishing places we get ourselves into. The trap is that we find ourselves believing our ideas and stuck viewing the world through a single lens. Use the lens of humor and amazement! Don’t take the world’s seriousness seriously!
So remember my dad these next few weeks: look up at the stars and find humor in new places!