I was searching for a quote for today’s Chalkboard and came across the classic from Dylan Thomas. He wrote the full poem as his father was dying.
When I first read it as a young man, I thought it meant to finish life with a kegger and a mosh pit, loud, reckless with my fists in the air.
The closer I get to my own final day, the more I realize it’s not about noise, but about defying decay.
“Do not go gentle into that good night” isn’t a command to rage at the world, but a refusal to drift. A refusal to soften into irrelevance. It’s about staying engaged, both mentally, spiritually, and physically. Even when the body slows and the world feels upside down.
That lines up with my whole gusto and astonishment theory. Keep searching, stay curious and don’t coast.
Not to go out in fury, but to finish knowing you showed up.
In the grabber section I threw in that line from Apocalypse Now, “Charlie don’t surf.” War all around, chaos everywhere and what does he say? Grab a surfboard.
It might be absurd, but there’s something there. The world may crumble and noise may surround you. Decay may knock at the door.
Do your thing anyway.
Stay sharp.
Stay engaged.
Refuse to drift.
Grab a surfboard.
Create gusto and search for astonishment.
Put a smile on the sun.
That’s the rage I'm searching for before the lights go out.
