Live Now – A Beautiful Reminder To Us All

I think I’m a little bit strange in the sense that, ever since I was a child, I have been keenly aware of my own mortality. Growing up, teachers often called me “sensitive” and I guess I still am sometimes.  It’s not that I am sensitive in the fact that I can’t take criticism (although, I think I was more when I was a child), but it’s more that I have always been keenly aware that life should not be taken for granted. Life is a gift and a blessing. I often find myself wanting to do more with my life; feeling time slip by as I think about how I should be working on some grand gesture that will help others or the world.  It’s a fire that has burned in me since I can remember, and one that I hope will stay ignited until I die.

Once, when I was having dinner with my mom near Berkley, we had an interesting fellow stop by our table to chat.  He was a cyclist and author named Martin Kreig and he had just recovered from a serious head injury that left him in a coma for quite some time. After telling us his amazing story of rehabilitation, cycling, and his book {Awake Again} he asked me what I do. I told him I was still looking for work (I was just out of school) but that I felt like I should be making an impact on the world somehow. What he said in response will forever stick with me. He told me, that all I have to do is bring love into this world, and if I have done that then I have succeeded.

That leads me to the original point of this post.  Today I stumbled upon a website that filled me with joy.  This website, called Live Now, is a community of people spreading that very concept, to “live now,” through “artwork, literature, relationships, exhibitions, and more.”

The website was created by Eric Smith, whose cancer diagnosis changed his perspective on life.  Here’s a little bit of what he has to say: [divider_padding]

My experience with cancer was this; Live Now! Cancer changed the way I ate, slept, and most importantly, the way I live. Before cancer I was like most folks, just cruising along. It was
during my treatment, when I started to discover what cancer could gift to me – the ability to absorb every moment as if each one were my whole life. The Live Now Project was born!

And that project that was born is so full of inspiration and motivation that I really hope you go check it out.  Below are a few of my favorites from the site.  They have also published a book {Live Now: Artful Messages of Hope, Happiness & Healing} that is sure to be a great one for the coffee table, or wherever you will see it every day, letting it be a reminder to LIVE NOW!