We’ve all seen them – headstones standing tall in silent graveyards. Each one tells a truncated tale, etched in cold stone. A name, a birth year, a dash, and then… another year.
But have you ever truly considered the significance of that dash? It represents the space between our arrival and departure, the very essence of our existence – the life we live.
The years before and after are mere bookends. They mark the commencement and conclusion of a human story. What happens in the dash between the years is what truly matters.
If you’re reading this, you’re still filling your dash. The ultimate physical law in universal existence. At once tiny and immense. An insignificant incision in stone. A vast canvas in life.
It can be filled with vibrant experiences, profound connections, heartbreak and pain, resilience, and resurgence. The ultimate pursuit of what sets your soul on fire.
For those who have gone before us, the dash denotes the story of a life, largely forgotten with the passing of the generations, yet immeasurably important in the now. For those who remain, it’s a call to action, urging us not to simply exist, but to truly live.
May your dash overflow with stories of dreams and adventure, risk and reward, setbacks and success, loves found and lost, lessons learned. The building blocks of wisdom leading to the clarity of seasoning.
If your dash still feels hollow, it is never too late to put more into it. While you still breathe, your influence can become the ingredients contributing to other dashes.
Your dash can help write positive chapters in other life stories. It can give those who remember us memories to treasure, and those who never knew us curiosity and imagination to wonder what intersections there may be in the stories between the bookends.
When your time comes, the inscription on your gravestone won’t be about the years, but a single-character cipher whispering the remarkable story you lived in between.
Let your dash be a masterpiece.
