Vita est quoque brevis

I want to apologise in advance for this depressing, reality checking, morbid first blog. With no colour or font change. This is what it is. Black and White. Life and Death.

Timing couldn't have been better/worse- to vent and to spill words all over the "page"- then now.
People we love die. It's just a cruel matter of fact. We can't prevent it, we can't make it hurt less, it's one of those definite things in life. Life goes on, and we hate that it does. We think, "How can life carry on without them in it?" But the world keeps turning and some how, some how we carry on...

A number of things happen to us when we lose someone we care about, or feel for those close to us who have lost.
No.1 - Reality check. It makes us aware of how quickly someone we love can be taken away from us. So it makes us appreciate those we love, and sometimes, even those we hate. It forces us to look at our lives, our relationships and validate how we are as a person and how little or how much we actually take people in our life for granted. In a way we learn from death. We take a huge sigh of relief as this time it wasn't us, or our immediate family and loved ones. It now allows us to steal time to say a quick, "I love you." "Be safe." " I care."

No.2 - It allows us to be more seroius about our own safety and the validity of our own lives. To drive more carefully, to never drink and drive, to always wear your seatbelt. Unfortunately most of these feelings are short lived and we go back to our own self absorbed lives and often forget about the little things in life and how a simple gesture to a stranger, or a simple i love you to the ones you love, can not only brighten their day, but yours too. We go back to "It won't ever happen to me or someone i love" attitude and it takes yet another accident or life changing event to once again make you realise how precious life is. My title "Vita est quoque brevis" means, "Life's too short" and often too late.

Finally No.3...
If someone close to us loses a loved one, we actually, wholeheartedly FEEL for someone else, for their loss, there's no falseness, or fakeness, or any kind of insincerity at all. Our heart aches, our soul aches, our body aches. It is the epitome of emotions and being human. For a moment the world stands still. And it's not all about you and your life. It's about them. It's one of the most selfless feelings and helpless ones too.

Lets not wait until someone has to lose someone to remind us again how very special all our relationships and friendships are. Phone your mom and dad, make up with your friend that you may be fighting with, not tomorrow, but now. For you don't get to choose how you're going to die. Or when. You can only decide how you're going to live. Now.

R.I.P Carla Ravell-
There's one less place at our table. There's one less tear in my eye. The things that you stood for...Like truth and light, may that never die... Carve her name with pride and courage. <3>

I. love. you. all. my. friends. my family. always.