With One Foot Dangling Over the Edge of the Universe
“If today were the last day of your life, would
you want to do what you are about to do today?”
~ Steve Jobs
Rumor has it that Steve Jobs asked himself this question every day in the mirror. It’s said that if he had enough days in a row when the answer was no, he’d do something else. Jobs was dead at 56.
Today, we watched another visionary dent the universe (almost literally). If today were Jeff Bezos’s last day on earth, he’d probably be okay with it. I’d be okay if it were my last day having watched his accomplishment from way down here. Good for him. Good for them. I like my brother, too, and I’d take him up with me.
WHAT’S IT FOR? Going into space isn’t for anything, except to DO IT. They didn’t make money, they spent LOTS. They learned even more, and they proved their worth to themselves, if no one else. Did anyone else really matter? Probably not.
WHAT DOES IT REMIND ME OF?
The Bezos launch reminded me of years past when we raced for space with other countries. Now our local visionaries compete with one another, and the media runs amok. It’s all wonderful. We used to rely on a war machine to feed for innovation and invention. Now, our CEOs feed their curiosity and, okay, their egos, but that’s okay.
IT’S MY LAST DAY ON EARTH [Pretend!]
I watched the rocket ship, walked my dog, listened to an amazing woman Melissa Renzi share her poetry, her love, and her vulnerability.
THIS IS THE POEM FROM MELISA RENZI’s BLOG POST on 7/6/21
(I challenge you to get through it with dry eyes.)
Love more today
Inspired by and in honor of Danay DiVirgilio
Love more today
Not tomorrow, not yesterday, not next year
Love more today
This very second, right now
You can do it, I believe in you
Be present with the feelings
All of them, all of you
This is not new
Since the beginning of time
In the infinity that is and was always
There is only one thing
And that thing is Love
Love more today
Not tomorrow, not yesterday, not next year
I see you, I hear you, I love you
I feel your Love, I feel your fear
I see you shedding a tear
All the Love you’re withholding
Give it up, give it away, let it go
Your life is unfolding
Love more today
Really, it is the only way
Close your eyes, yes, let’s do it right now
Send your love to someone who needs it the most
Send your love to someone who is easy to love
Now to someone who is hard to love
See, love doesn’t know the difference
Love is the great equalizer
Breaking through barriers of time and space
With total ease and infinite grace
Love is bigger than here and now
Love is wonder, love is how.
Love is deeper than good or bad
It’s so much wider than happy or sad
Love is not a drop in the ocean
Love is the ocean
So love more today
Not tomorrow, not yesterday, not next year
Really darling, there is nothing to fear
Open your eyes to the wisdom of love
See the world through its freedom, a dove
From high up above and all the way down
Love the whole rainbow, love the whole town
Love the sadness and love the grief
Love the Joy and love the belief
That Love is forever
And before I go, I want you to know:
It is okay to laugh and it is okay to cry
It is okay to ask “Why?”
Yes, really I ask you, I ask you to try
To love more today
In honor of the Spirit that is Danay
-Melissa Renzi
Amherst, MA
July 2020
*The words “Love more today” first appeared in an email from Michael DiVirgilio, sharing the news of Danay’s transition with family and friends. He asked friends to “Love More Today” as a way to honor her memory.
PS – I wrote this poem just days after Danay’s transition last summer. I read it at the memorial service under the trees in her backyard. Her presence was felt that day in the palpable Love that was there. And in the breeze of the trees above. Today it is a year. Honoring this beautiful human, friend, teacher, mother, mama. It was such a joy knowing you, friend. I treasure you always. Thank you for showing up in all the ways you do in my life and in the life of so many.
Good things, darling.
Love more today.
# # #
I hope it’s okay with you, Melissa, that I shared your poem. If this were my last day on earth, I would be happy, hanging one foot over the edge of our shared universe. Thank you for writing this piece and letting us know you better.
Thanks to Pixels.com for the image.
Oh, my goodness. I had this fine idea that everyone is great at starting projects and that finishing is the problem. I forgot that many times people fail to start because they fear they will never finish. So finishing is still a huge challenge, no doubt about it, but the more pernicious problem is that a finely honed track record of non-finishing keeps people from the unbridled giddiness that comes from starting something. That, and fear of looking really dumb.
