Work has been uninspiring to me as of late. Hints of dissatisfaction of the general state of the world was creeping into my own professional life. I can only say that I felt un-tethered and adrift. I mired myself in gloom and uncertainty of the world. If I could’ve observed myself from a different vantage, I would’ve found the sight sad and unflattering.
Then just a few days ago, I received an e-mail about an old friend we’d worked alongside from a mutual acquaintance. He’d lost a grown son. His son was not that much younger than me. No other information offered other than that he died during the past weekend. I was shocked. I’d met the young man many years ago and the memory of that meeting and the news of his death came to the fore. I was and am saddened by it. His potential lost in mere moments and I think of my own son. And I’m afraid of the future, because I am selfish. I’m afraid of the possibility of such a life-changing loss for us, my wife and I. The thought was unbearable. The news turned all my gloom and dissatisfaction over the mundane things before into something trivial.