The inferno of the living is not something that will be; if there is one, it is what is already here, the inferno where we live every day, that we form by being together. There are two ways to escape suffering it. The first is easy for many: accept the inferno and become such a part of it that you can no longer see it. The second is risky and demands constant vigilance and apprehension: seek and learn to recognize who and what, in the midst of inferno, are not inferno, then make them endure, give them space. ~Italo Calvino
Commonplace book of a teacher, poet, and counselor.
When I am on my deathbed and I reflect on my life, I will contemplate all the idle time, the time spent sitting on the couch eating Pop-Tarts and playing Skyrim, the time spent hanging out in bars swilling beer until the wee hours, the time frittered away on MetaFilter and Trailer Park Boys marathons. I will remember taking a whole week off work to drop acid in the woods. I will recall calling in sick just because I wanted to play with the new kitten all day. I will think back on a life of idleness, unproductivity, and outright indolence.
And I will smile and whisper, “I. FUCKING. WON.