The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness. Although the two are identical twins, man, as a rule, views the prenatal abyss with more calm than the one he is heading for (at some forty-five hundred heartbeats an hour). Vladimir Nabokov

Comments

[Chris Weston]

That's some update to post in the small hours. Contemplating abysses is best done in daylight...

[Marko Tusar]

Knowing this, how do you act differently?

[Earl Mardle]

Or, to quote Becket's Vladimir, "Astride of a grave and a difficult birth. Down in the hole, lingeringly, the grave digger puts on the forceps. We have time to grow old. The air is full of our cries. (He listens.) But habit is a great deadener." I always did go for the gruesome version.

On the other hand, I do love the idea that almost every atom of which we are constructed has been produced by exploding stars, novae and supernovae. Would it not be homeopathically excellent if our atoms could remember all THAT?

[Euan]

By trying to calm down and enjoy the moment more fully Marko. I think we all have a tendency to rush to the next thing while worrying about the previous one and miss most of life on the way by!