Another thought provoking post. I suspect I am more fortunate than most in that I have lived a good part of my life built around the precepts you speak to. This was more evident in my youth, when the lack of responsibility allowed a certain footloose quality to life (what my wife refers to as my ‘checkered past’)! But even when I settled down with the right woman (23+ years now and getting better every day) and raising two great kids, I’ve never lost that core purpose – live life!

It has not always been easy – my professional career is in an extremely demanding and stressful position which some days seems designed specifically to engender cynicism. Fortunately for me, I can shed that brittle shell very quickly. A solo predawn walk on the beach, watching the arrival of the day’s first light, a few moments gazing under a starlit sky, a few hours spent on a quiet trail or gliding an open bay in a kayak and I am there – all else a distant and quickly fading memory. I suspect that in my case, it is because I may be momentarily distracted by the day-to-day, but I never actually leave. My photography has simply become a way of documenting those moments of return.

My tombstone? Jim Sabiston, Loving Husband, Loving Dad, Lover of Life (who happened to take a couple of good photographs while having fun) ; )

Having said that, for me, the best way to be free of it all and open myself to true creativity is to not even care if I’m remembered.

But I will admit that if I am to be remembered, I prefer it be by all the innocent animals I’ve helped as opposed to human beans.

You said if you can’t cry, you can’t be an artist. While I think that is true, IMHO, one needs to get uncomfortable and completely vulnerable…

…remain ever vigilant NOT to become an empty human shell valued only for your ability to produce consumer goods or provide a repetitive service at the expense of pursuing your own desires and experiencing life in the raw.

If only more people could delve so deeply. This post made me think about some people I care about so much, who are bound & determined to live their lives on the surface at the moment, denying their own humanity and true expression of choice. Which *is* their choice, of course, and their current point on the journey…but how much more beautiful all the world could be if more of us lived life out loud and with honest, joyous appreciation of who we are, no?

And a very good, timely reminder for me to consider how I would like to be remembered one day. My actions and words now will shape that later remembrance by others–and that is indeed important to me. Thank you for that.

(Oh, and that movie’s in my netflix queue now. I’m slightly apprehensive given your take on it, but still very curious.)