Perfection

"We were sitting together in the kitchen drinking tea and talking, and I happened to look into her living room. She has one of these carpets that shows every footprint. It had been vacuumed so perfectly that every fiber was pointing in the same direction. At one time, this would have given me a deep sense of satisfaction. Now it just looked sad and lonely, untouched by life.. There is so much more to life than a perfectly clean kitchen floor.."

Life-threatening illness may shuffle our values like a deck of cards. Sometimes a card that has been on the bottom of the deck for most of our lives turns out to be the top card, the thing that really matters. Having watched people sort their cards and play their hands in the presence of death for many years, I would say that rarely is the top card perfection, or possessions, or even pride. Most often the top card is love.

The path

Not knowing where you are going creates more than uncertainty; it fosters a sense of aliveness, an appreciation of the particulars around you. It wakes you up much in the same way that illness does.

Freedom

The choice people have to make is never between slavery and freedom. We will always have to choose between slavery and the unknown.