Philosophy for Living, Rife with Irony

Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today. ~James Dean

Another quote, and yes, before you ask, I'm on a quotes kick. I was browsing through one of my favorite sites looking for something specific when I stumbled across the Cummings quote in the previous entry and this one. The supreme wisdom and heartbreaking irony of this one deserved a brief comment, though.

What does it really mean to live as if you'll die today? It certainly means to take advantage of all those little opportunities we all too often let go, the chance to do the thing that requires courage, daring, stepping outside our routine or our perception of our regular self. Too often, I think we fail to appreciate the brevity of our time here. This quote puts it into a tidy perspective.

I think it also needs to mean, though, living in a way that recognizes the incredible wonder of life, the preciousness of everyone we're surrounded by, and the relationships that connect us. It should also mean making sure that there is no unfinished business, that peace is made, both with our fellow man and with God so that when it comes time to step away from this place we can dust off our hands, job finished, and move on to what comes next.

I think about the image of James Dean as the eternal Rebel in the leather jacket, and I think about how he died in a twisted mass of metal, and I wonder which definition he embraced and what it ultimately meant to him.