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Remembering First … To Live
Posted by Joseph Riggio on Saturday, September 09, 2006"Now cracks a noble heart. Good-night, sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest."
(Horatio, V.ii) - Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act V
Hello All,
Those of you who have been following my posts this week here in BlogNostra will have noticed that I've been considering what makes a situation challenging and how come sometimes the challenge generates the result ... or something like that.
The thing that comes up for me as well in this thread has to do with the way we organize ourselves to do what we do. I don't mean just what we do in a moment - although that fascinates me as well - but the way we organize ourselves to do what we do in the world. In essence I guess I'm referring to our life's mission or purpose. Now I've said before, and I still hold the same opinion, that we have no life mission or purpose as something waiting for us to find ... out there somewhere.
Our life's mission or purpose simply revolves around "having your life" ... being fully alive in every moment we have and expressing ourselves in the world as unique and distinct ... while remaining thoroughly connected to the greater context that contains us ... I call this the Journey To Becoming Human ... (a phrase I get from my study of Joseph Campbell's work).
What I find so fascinating about this starts with the realization that there seems to be a number of people out there who have discovered this and have begun to live their lives in this way, from this position. I'm referring to the position of expressing ourselves fully ... truly living the Journey To Becoming Human. I've really been thinking a lot this week about the tragic death of Steve Irwin, who many knew as "The Crocodile Hunter." - someone I think exemplifies what I'm referring to here.
I find myself in the strange position of being rather hard hit by the news of his death. Strange in that I only knew of Steve Irwin via television. Yet I actually have a sense of having known him personally ... and beyond that having admired and respected him as well. I think this was surely part of his magic, his ability to be doing what he was doing, while both allowing and inviting us into his world. I got the sense that for him it was personal and his commitment was infectious, engaging and adorable.
I'd have to say that Steve Irwin was truly a larger than life character, someone who transcended the limits of his individuality. As a result of his and his life's work ... his life's mission and purpose ... I found myself becoming committed along with him, not just interested in what he presented. He heard a calling and he threw himself at it with gusto and without compromise. As a result not only did he get to live his life's mission and purpose he did it so well he enabled millions of others to come along on the ride with him. In this way Steve Irwin became and remains one of my personal heroes.
It takes persistence, dedication and discipline ... a certain kind of tenacity ... to develop mastery. I think every hero I've ever had shares this quality of having attained a level of mastery where they'd committed themselves. Yet, with mastery there sometimes comes the jealously and envy of others. I think this too is a part of the price that every hero I have shares as well ... enduring the envy and jealously of those who too have heard the call and took the more common road.
I don't care what some folks have said or written about Steve Irwin, either before his tragic passing or since ... he remains an untarnished hero ... a "larger than life character" to me. I don't care if he took some risks people disagreed with, or that he might have made mistakes along the way ... "his way was not the way of comfort or security."You cannot do one without the other ... if you take risks you'll make some mistakes.
What I care about ... what made Steve Irwin a hero to me was that not only did he take the risks, he took the consequences as well ... and he didn't blame or accuse others when he fell ... instead he stood up again, shook himself off and went back out into the world and he did what he did without excuses or surrender ... and this to me represents the essence of what a hero does.
There are those who are now saying as a result of his choices that his family has to pay the price. Again, another gift of that Steve Irwin shares with us all was his beautiful family ... his wife Terri, his daughter Bindi, his son Bob ... and others ... he let us all the way in ... he opened his home, his life, his heart to us all ... what more can we ask from our heros??? And it will be true that his children will grow up with out him standing next to them from now on, but I assure you that he has already given his children the gift of imprinting upon their spirits what it means to be a hero - that they will always have ... and his unending love I am sure.
Steve Irwin's life was an example of what it looks like when someone lives each moment completely ... without compromise ... and does not save themselves up for a life not yet lived.
The people who truly knew this man show an unrestrained love for him ... for him and what he represented. He lived his life fully and in return his life was full up. This gift is precious ... to live life fully and without compromise for even an instant will always be more precious than living an entire lifetime of mediocrity. While most people are striving and clawing to preserve each extra moment of life they haven't yet had, they never lived in those moments they actually do have.
Personally ... I rather have my life cut short and my gift to my children be the knowledge and memory of what it looks like when someone treasures the gift of life we share ... than to live to be an old man who took the easier road, seeking a life of comfort and security. I have seen the twinkle in my children's eyes when we have shared the secret knowledge that we are alive and kicking ... and this moment we have ... right now ... has been enough for a lifetime.
“I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.” - Jack London
Steve sleep well ... and, thank you.
Joseph Riggio, Ph.D.
Princeton, NJ
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Maybe, just maybe, the answer to my deepest limitation lies in here ... and also hinted at in many other of your blog entries. Do you intentionally add information or comments for specific individuals, or do you manage to write generally enough to satisfy a large audience without it sounding like it? Either way, THANK YOU!
Paul,
You’re welcome from me ... you should also thank Steve. Think about sending a donation to the fund they are creating in his name on behalf of wildlife conservation ... however small or large.
Joseph
Thanks indeed to Steve....
http://www.wildlifewarriors.org.au/
Here here!
Steve was someone who lived his life without compromise..always. He was probably more well known in the US than his homeland, but he had 100% that “Australian” exuberance and passion in all he did… At the moment I’m re-reading “Dumbing us Down” by John Gatto, an NYC schoolteacher who followed his own path, despite the pressures to conform to the system he worked within. John, like Steve Irwin, took many risks regardless of the consequences of his actions and IMO lived a lived a life worth living, inspiring others to show their true majestic selves to the world.
Dennis Charles
