My cancer has brought the eventuality of death forward on some level. I think about the people that I have known that are now gone, and of people I did not know, but left some legacy of their passing. Authors and filmmakers come to mind, and images of actors immortalized on the screen live on long after the actors have slipped from this mortal coil.

I think one's legacy is an idea that most often concerns those in their twilight years. Some wealthy people leave endowments to the arts or a university. Parents of course leave their children in the world, a living legacy of sorts.

Unless one is Caesar, Joan of Arc, Shakespeare or someone else of such stature, a few years after we pass out of this world, most if not all trace of our passing is lost to the sands of time. It is an interesting proposition. Our lives seem so important while we are living them, but after folks die, the world keeps churning right past them.

Perhaps that is why when a popular icon dies, like Michael Jackson, people are reminded of the impermanence of life, and wonder about what people will say about them when they pass.

It is gratifying how little any of this matters, and how in the light of oblivion, the most logical thing to do is to simply enjoy your life.