excerpted from
In My Own Way

I reached a new level of consciousness upon reading the Dog-Eared Page excerpt from In My Own Way, by Alan Watts [June 2011], in which he compares our inevitable departure from this world to our never having existed prior to being born. This little interlude we call “life” is momentary and soon gone. Anyone we will ever meet, interact with, or hear about sooner or later ceases to be. Watts prods us to dwell on this nothingness, not to understand it, but to experience it.

As I did this, instead of feeling small, fleeting, or insignificant (all of which I am), I felt a connection to others, our earth, and the universe. Through this one fact — impermanence — we are all united.