Standing in the middle of the silent highway I watched the moon, slowly appear over the horizon only to vanish again into the cloudy sky.  Big, full, vivacious, and yet so easily hidden behind the mists of the evening.  Birds sang.  Something rustled in the grasses.  Far away emergency lights flashed silently.  Someone had died there an hour before.  Someone else had died over that hill 2 days before.  And another over that hill, and another beyond that mountain, and another in that lake, and another in that car.  So much death has occurred in Boulder in the last week. 

We’re good at what we do; we continue to act, to do our job and live our lives, until a moment like this comes along and there is a pause, a moment to stop and feel.  I stood in that road for hours feeling my body grow tired, watching for the stars to come out, and then realizing they wouldn’t because it was cloudy, listening to the evening silence of nature.  The now stretches for hours, or days, or years, or maybe a lifetime if you’re quick about it. 

Death is a doorway through which the soul travels, sometimes when it is ready, sometimes not.  There is an important moment that comes, a need to recognize all the love that transcends this doorway of death.  A moment where we need to sit, watch the moon as it rises above the earth, appreciate its beauty fully and completely because at any moment it could disappear behind the clouds, leaving us without its brilliance. 

I strive to experience each moment, each interaction with this intention.  I pause, dive in completely, let it wash over me with everything it has to share.  Each death comes with so much sadness closing out something beautiful, but more than anything it is a reminder to live!