Dash Poem

My friend Deanna told me about this poem called Dash Poem. It’s a poem about the dash mark between the date of our birth and date of our death on our tombstones. For it’s not the dates of our birth and death that are most important, but the time in between those two dates and how you spend that time which is, in the end, the most important.

I’ll be the first to admit I am guilty of becoming fixated on the crap that really doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. Dash Poem is a thoughtful reminder that it’s not what we have or own or how we look that makes our lives worth living, it’s how we live it.  If you want to spend the time between your two dates checking off your bucket list, creating happiness and embracing the life you have, then rock on. If you want to spend that time being a negative a$$hole, that’s cool too. It’s your life to live and you can do whatever you want to make that dash count. That what’s so cool about life, we get to choose how we live it.

This past weekend Deanna and I went to a Coachella with a billion other people to listen to some awesome music, chill out and to enjoy the ambiance that is an unreal dance party in the desert. All she kept saying was, “I am so happy we did this, I am so happy we did this.” Because let’s be honest, Coachella isn’t cheap. But it’s a damn good time and it was money well spent on one of the best experiences we have both ever had together. Truth be told, you could put us in a cardboard box and we would have a blast, but Coachella was just calling our names this year. To say this adventure was worth every single penny is an understatement.

They say that money spent on experiences is more impactful as time goes on in our lives and I could not agree more. It’s all about what you do during that dash in your life that matters. Embrace all the beauty, love and amazing people this life has to offer. Experience it all and no matter what, if you have something you want to do, something you have been dying to do for years, do it now because we don’t know how long our dash will last. Today I say goodbye to my best friend who lives on the other side of the planet and this time we actually do not know when we will see each other again. It’s the worst part of our travels together, however, this past weekend was the perfect way to end our visit this time around. She got two things checked off her bucket list, Disneyland and Coachella and I got to laugh with her the whole way through. And even though she lost her phone in the desert, she kept the good vibes going. She inspires me to live life to the fullest and to embrace the good and the bad, because life isn’t perfect. As usual, we will cry like babies when we part, but I couldn’t be any luckier to spend some time during my dash with such a beautiful person, inside and out creating memories to last a lifetime.