Last weekend I found out that a boy I’d gone to high school with died suddenly while traveling in Cambodia. I barely knew him then and I say “boy” because I haven’t seen him since graduation twelve years ago. Apparently I would have liked the man he grew into. He’s walked the Camino de Santiago and was currently on a tour of Southeast Asia with a friend from high school. I checked out his blog and he was an incredibly gifted writer, fueled by his sense of adventure. Reading the many eulogies that have popped up online, it seems he touched many people all over the world and was an inspiration for them to go live their dreams. This is a tragic reminder that time can be short. If there is some adventure you really want to have, think about what is stopping you from doing it. I bet you can figure out a way to make it work. Then go do it.
The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing but burn, burn, burn like fabulous roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes ‘Awww!’
— Jack Kerouac, On the Road
RIP Jimmy.
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