Treat People as Flowers

Sometimes people say goodnight by saying, see you in the morning, if that’s expected. This bugs me.[1] While I certainly hope to see them in the morning, and consider it highly probable, even in a modern world, it isn’t guaranteed. To me, all goodbyes are an acknowledgement of this fact. They exist, mainly, for the unlikely case that this is the last time. The intensity and duration of the goodbye reflects the value of the relationship, times the probability that it’s the last goodbye. Thinking like this isn’t about fixation with death, it’s about appreciation of life. In my goat-like focus on whatever I’m working on, it’s easy to ignore the transient beauty all around me. Awareness of mortality — my own and others’ — is the antidote. When you have a rose bush in your yard, or a vase of cut flowers, you don’t think, oh, that’s nice, but I’m in a hurry; I’ll stop and appreciate that tomorrow. (Or maybe you do: but that’s lame.) Because it might not be there tomorrow. People often seem…