Hey friends,
Everyone knows they’re going to die, but not everyone lives like it.
I think it’s because sometimes we forget life won’t go on forever. Maybe it’s because we don’t really believe it either.
We continue to wake up day after day, making it feel like life will go on forever. We convince ourselves there’s always another tomorrow.
I’ve been thinking about my mortality a bit recently. Moments away from graduating and beginning the next chapter of my life, I’ve been considering how I want to spend the rest of the best years of my life, as people say.
Matt D'Avella recommended a video by Eden in his newsletter recently, where Eden shares an analogy for life. It’s brilliant, and encouraged me to reflect on making the most of time while I've got some of it left. I’d like to share the analogy with you this week.
Life is like a holiday.
When we first arrive at the hotel, we’re exhausted after a long flight. We settle in, put our feet up, and tell ourselves we’ll start exploring tomorrow. There’s plenty of time. The whole week is ahead of us.
That’s what it’s like in our teens and 20s. We've got this list of things we want to do and see, but time feels endless. We put things off, telling ourselves that when we've got more time, more money, when we're successful, when we're in a relationship—that’s when we'll do it.
A few days pass, and we realise we haven’t done as much as we thought we would. It’s okay, we think, I’m only halfway through the trip. There’s still time. But in the back of our minds, the idea of heading back home starts to creep in. We begin to take things in a little bit more vividly and savour the moments.
That’s what it’s like in our 40s and 50s. We're not old, but we start thinking about time differently, about the things we haven’t done yet.
A few days are left, and now we're rushing to cram it all in. We're trying to experience everything, but there’s this feeling of disappointment because we know we're about to leave. We might not see this place ever again. We can’t help but think: if only I had made better use of those first few days.
That’s our 60s and 70s. We look back, thinking about what we could have done with the time we had, knowing soon we'll have to go. And that’s if our holiday isn’t cut short.
Make the most of it, because one day, we'll all have to leave.
Ben x
p.s. Apple presenters have sticky elbows
👀 This Week's Standouts
🎤 Panel event - I headed up to Auckland with Fuad on Wednesday to participate in a panel discussion at #TEFMA24. At the annual conference for designers, builders, and managers of higher education facilities, we shared our perspective on how the built university environment shapes the student experience. It was such an awesome experience. I got to meet NZ icon Wendy Petrie too, who facilitated the panel. Find a few of the things the panelists and I yarned about in my LinkedIn post here.
🎵 Music - Here's some music I've been playing on repeat this week.
📝 Essays - I stumbled upon Barrett Brooks this week. I can't remember how and I still don't know much about him, but he's wrote some really valuable essays on his blog. I read two this week that were really thoughtful: How to have more meaningful conversations and How to introduce and friend or colleague. Check them out.
📺 YouTube Video - It's been fascinating to watch Kamala Harris' campaign mobilise so quickly and powerfully. This superb Wendover Productions video explores the logistics of putting it all together. It's incredible.
✍🏻 Quotes of the week
"As long as there is love, there will be grief. The grief of time passing, of life moving on half-finished, of empty spaces that were once bursting with the laughter and energy of people we loved.
As long as there is love there will be grief because grief is love's natural continuation. It shows up in the aisles of stores we once frequented, in the half-finished bottle of wine we pour out, in the whiff of cologne we get two years after they've been gone.
Grief is a giant neon sign, protruding through everything, pointing everywhere, broadcasting loudly, "Love was here." In the finer print, quietly, "Love still is.""
By writer Heidi Priebe on Instagram.
"You can't change your past, but you can reframe it. Find the lesson in it. Find the opportunity in it. Pull the teachable moment out of it and share with others. You can't choose your history, but you can choose the story you tell about it."
By James Clear in his newsletter.
“Opportunities are grains of sand. They slide right past drooping fingers, but an active palm can gather whatever is within reach and shape it into a little castle. It is the act of engaging with the material that gives it shape.”
By James Clear in his newsletter.
