the apocalypse?

A friend of mine just called me from Parkdale. He was on his third cigarette, chain-smoking nervously as he stared in disbelief at wood chunks scattered all over his front porch. The tree from his neighbour's yard had come crashing to the ground, splintering its remains all over the once-entrance to the house.

Luckily, it didn't cause too much serious physical damage, but, for my friend, he was saying it gave him pause.

I told him usually these things are a blessing of some kind. It's bad to say that you sometimes need a shake-up but most of us think that if we continue on with our well-worn motives and good humour, things will improve. We will get our due.

Often, I've found this is not always the case. In 2000, I was crossing the road in London, England and I was hit by a car. I smashed the windshield of this gent's volvo and was catapulted over the car, landing on my feet only to have the laws of physics send the rest of me to the ground, hitting my shins and my hips on the ground. I remember the thud of the car, and the thought in my mind was "What have I done?"

Trust humans to think immediately that whatever this bone-crushing accident was, that it was our fault. Probably a little bit, but not entirely in my case.

Anyway, I said to the friend on the phone this evening that he should take a deep breath and just consider it a wake-up call. Were there things in his life that he wasn't entirely happy with? Use this close call as a reason to make the change. Take a day off. Purge. Call someone you've neglected. Enjoy. Revel. Relax. Essentially, take it as a reminder that we are here on earth to LIVE.