Deep Thoughts
The first professor I had in college (first class I enrolled in, first class I entered on the first day) was taught by a woman named Jan Serie. Jan was a hard professor. She assigned a lot of reading, gave hard but fair tests, and expected us to show up at 8:30 am for Intro to Biology (in a dark hall) with our A game. She was a published author, researching adult-onset diabetes at a high level, even though she worked at a college more geared to the liberal arts. She was successful by any measure, on myriad committees and head of the department. She battled ovarian cancer and won, and continued to succeed. She was someone I thought I should be like. Last week, the second, more aggressive round of ovarian cancer won, and Jan died.
Here is something she wrote about a month ago. We hear these messages all the time, but this one really got me. I'm not so worried about the economy today.
"I have been thinking about what's important and what life is for, and I thought I'd share a few ideas that seem true for me. I do believe what the greeting cards say, that what you do with the moments of your life ultimately becomes your life. My moments have been focused so much on doing things, e.g. achievement, deadlines, building structures, developing programs, and not so much on being, e.g. making connections, being there in the present moment, seeing the suffering of others and easing it a bit, listening to my heart’s desire and letting it lead me in unexpected directions. I wonder now about a more balanced life. I think I’ve been able to get balanced in these last two years of battling ovarian cancer and maybe it takes this kind of life shock to help us all get into alignment.
But I do know that I did spend a lot of my life worried about things that just simply don’t matter, and since I’ve stopped doing that, I’m much happier. I know it is important to be mindful of my actions, and try to not inflict suffering on others. I know that kindness and compassion matter a great deal."
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Comments (4)
very touching Heather. thanks for sharing this. you are soooooo right.
Comment #1 Posted by: Stacy | September 24, 2008 07:21 PM
very touching Heather. thanks for sharing this. you are soooooo right.
Comment #2 Posted by: Stacy | September 24, 2008 07:21 PM
Thank you for this reminder, couldn't have come at a better time.
Comment #3 Posted by: katie Kosmala | September 25, 2008 06:25 AM
Thank you Heather. How lucky we are to live in a sacred valley that allows us to connect to nature and the timeless present, no matter how busy we are.
Comment #4 Posted by: Suza | September 25, 2008 01:05 PM