“Living Life Dying Death: A Guide to Healthy Conversations About Death and Dying to Inspire Life and Living” by Jennifer Collins Taylor

Living in the 21st century leaves little space for reflection about the important matters of life and death. We Americans, in particular, create entire identities around our levels of busyness. We measure our value not by who we are or what we hold dear, but by what — and how much — we do. Against the backdrop of our hectic lives, idleness is a non sequitur. Not a second is left unscheduled. If it is, we immediately fill it up.

Enter Jennifer Collins Taylor and her wonderful little book, “Living Life Dying Death: A Guide to Healthy Conversations About Death and Dying to Inspire Life.”  A collection of affirmations about the value of sharing our values, hopes, aspirations, and ideas, this 60-page book is not so much about living and dying as it is about learning to let go of the craziness and live an authentic life.

Arranged, with one exception, in alphabetical order, the affirmations in Collins’ book touch on the most essential — and mostly forgotten — aspects of living well. Not accidentally, it begins and ends with “Love.”

Start and end every
conversation with words of
love and care.
The words of the conversation
may be forgotten, but 
love remains. 

What is in between is a collection of wise sayings that anyone can use to start a conversation or quietly reflect on the question: How can I create meaning from what is left of my life?

Some of my favorites:

Living 

Savor living.
Living is a verb:
remember back gently…
plan ahead tentatively…
and live fully today.
When do you feel most alive?

Credit: livinglifedyingdeath.com

Paradox 

Recognize that
life is bittersweet…
simple and complex 
joyful and sorrowful 
beautiful and vulgar
comic and tragic
strong and fragile. 

And lastly,

Mystery 

Learn to be comfortable
with the mysteries
of life and death.
Where were you before
you were born?
Where will you go
when you die? 

Collins’ book doesn’t dive deeply into the metaphysical aspects of life and death. It is simply a book of questions without answers — a place to begin a personal exploration into what you believe, what you value, and what you want to leave behind when you’re gone. I highly recommend it for everyone.