My Year of Rebooting, Part 1: Saying Farewell
How was your 2023? I hope it’s been a good one for you. It’s been amazing for me.
This year, I did many things I had never done before. Sometimes because I wanted to, and sometimes,… because that’s just how life is.
One of those "just how life is" things was burying my mum's ashes, and saying farewell to the home I grew up in.
Part of the grieving process involved sorting through 50+ years of documents, photos and artefacts. Our life growing up. Mum’s life growing up, and even some of her parents’ lives growing up.
In Reboot Yourself! Chapter 1, I talk about the influence of the people in our life. As the saying goes, you can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family.
we are part of something bigger than ourselves.
As I gathered up the artefacts of my forebears, I came to appreciate them all. Most cultures in the world understand that we are part of something bigger than ourselves. Western culture misses this aspect, putting too much emphasis on the individual. Sifting through the artefacts of previous generations helped me see life in perspective. It also helped me get a greater sense of purpose going forward.
Death is coming for all of us, it’s just a matter of when. And yet, we spend most of our lives acting as if that weren’t the case. But coming face to face with the death of a loved one can help us see things more clearly than ever before.