Ninth song off "Calendar", out on September 30th!
Artwork by Eli Wengrin
--
After being diagnosed with terminal cancer at age 80, neurologist and author Oliver Sacks wrote a series of essays reflecting on his approaching death. These essays, compiled in a single volume with the title Gratitude, exude total calmness in the face of death. Sacks writes, “…my predominant feeling is one of Gratitude. I have loved and been loved… I have had an intercourse with the world, the special intercourse of writers and readers. Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and adventure.”

None of us have ever experienced death first hand. I’ve had a few extended family members die, but fortunately I have never had to say goodbye to anyone close to me. However, I’ve experienced the ending of beautiful moments, and death could be seen as the final accumulation of all of these endings.

Just yesterday I came back to California after a few months of living with Luca and his partner Stefi. It’s the longest I’ve ever stayed with them, and for the last few weeks I felt less like I was passing through on vacation and more like I was with them permanently. In the past it has been very difficult for me to say goodbye to Luca, and I was worried that this year would be especially difficult, but I feel more gratitude than anything else. I am very thankful that have such wonderful and caring friends.

I don’t want to say that temporarily saying goodbye to a close friend is even remotely as difficult as dying, but the two emotions are undoubtedly related. Like everything in life, accepting the ending of a beautiful period gets easier with practice. Through a full and intense “intercourse with the world,” we are able to accumulate many experiences and see the death of many beautiful moments; Practice for the end of our lives. I am now back in California, and just today I saw Cooper from Mediocre Cafe, who wrote a beautiful guest verse for this song. I am excited to live this new period of my life, and feel immense gratitude at having had the opportunity to spend a few months with my best friend. Luca & Stefi, I love you and will see you soon!