"If we are true to the steps we take, the travel makes sense and the journey confirms itself."
Some days there is news that just makes your mind reel.
No, I'm not talking about Saddam, I'm talking about my accountant's niece.
Her niece and her fiancee were driving on Thursday, up I-5 near San Diego. A truck lost its trailer hitch. The six pound piece of metal flew through the air, striking their SUV. Her fiancee was killed instantly, and the niece grabbed for the wheel. They finally came to a stop after hitting two cars, and swerving into a median. The niece is uninjured, however, she suffers the loss of her fiancee. And here's the kicker. Sean O'Shea was a really great guy who lived his life exuding enthusiasm and love.
We were talking about the randomness of it all. The trailer hitch sailing in the sky, hitting the man who engaged in all of life's challenges and left a ribbon of love in his wake. We were all just so sad today. Unbearably so, as we helped our accountant find more information. As the day wore on, we realized something beyond any philosophical dickerings of fate vs. randomness. Even though he was young, he lived his life in such a way that at any moment if he were taken off this earth he'd be assured that the strongest thing left behind was love. Now I'm not saying he deliberately did this, nor that he knew he'd have an early departure. But he lived his life so beautifully that his emotional legacy will be a comforting one. His strength wasn't in his poses or the frequency in which he practiced yoga. It was in the way he conducted his life, and there was nothing random about it.
"Nirvana isn't a place, but a liberated way of experiencing this one."
Thank you for this post.
ReplyDeleteI'm a student of Sean's, and I'm very, very sad about this tragedy. Sean was a wonderful person.
Thanks again.
Steve Thompson
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ReplyDeleteHi Steve,
ReplyDeleteThanks for writing. I'm glad to see that Four Seasons Yoga has pulled it together and is up and offering classes again. I've met one other student of his up here at Freeman Yoga who is home from UCSD on her break. She's devastated as well, and when she goes back home this week, it'll be to a different, but as-loving place.