Chalk Therapy
While reading the book “Maybe You Should Talk to Someone” I was introduced to the concept of “Before I die” walls.
Started as an art project in New Orleans, it’s been adopted by several other cities.
A wall where people can chalk out an answer to the question:
Before I die I want to _______.
Like a bucketlist, only shorter and more public.
On the one hand I applaud the exercise of looking at mortality, of remembering that life is short, of finding a way to make the precious days and minutes of life count.
On the other, this feels so… trite. Canned. Performative.
Maybe for me the answer is:
Before I die, I want to stop being annoyed by banal suggestions that I must write out a list of things to do before I die.
Okay, fine. Before I die, I want to live. And to stop being so hard on myself.
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This post was originally published on Medium and more of my work can be found over there @karenfayeth.
