@usn0814,
In two months I’ll be 72. I think in terms of 20 or more years to come, and look back on what I have accomplished so far. I don’t think so much about death as about what I can do with the time I have left.
No regrets; everything that happened (or didn’t) led to what I am doing now, and an opportunity to consider how the road ahead can be paved.
There is no roadmap for this. I like the old saying that a map is where others have already been, so look at the map, then go in another direction. Seek the empty places where the label says “Here there be dragons”.
When the pandemic hit, I was 66. Many passed on, a few I knew or even taught. I thought a bit more about the brevity of life and what is left behind when we go.
To fulfill a promise that I made to my teacher decades prior, I started to write books. I decided to leave something behind that could possibly benefit those to come. Houses and such crumble or get torn down, one-of-a-kind artworks decay, get destroyed, or lost, music falls out of favor, but a book lasts for generations (I won’t say forever).
Since my first publication in 2021, I have written and published 7 books, most of them about the history, philosophies, and concepts of the old Chinese-Okinawan karate system I have been training and teaching since 1974. My apprentices and I have dug and found so much more history and meaning to share than anyone has ever put together to date. 95% of this research is stuff that no one has ever found, dusted off, and correlated to present an increasingly comprehensive record of development for this system. The first 3 books are from 450 to near 600 pages in length with photos, scans of official historical documents, and interviews. I am currently writing the 4th volume of that series (it’s only about 360 pages at this time, awaiting more interviews and photos from our sources in China). In between major publications, I wrote a Young Student’s Guide that was #1 in Martial Arts Book for Children for 2 weeks, and has been in the top 100 on Amazon for nearly 2 months. It has since been translated into 6 other languages, and I am currently writing Young Student’s Guide Book 2. I also wrote a book about cats, a book explaining daily-life application of karate concepts for non-karate people, and helped my wife write her book for our grandchild.
It feels wonderful to not think about “leaving the world”, but more about “leaving something behind for the world”. Yes, my target audience is small (pretty much restricted to the practitioners of this system, MA book collectors, and my descendents). I have no grandiose delusions of being “famous” or such, but I feel the satisfaction of knowing absolutely that my parents, especially my father (who was a printer and helped hand-set the type for the Encyclopedia Americana in the 1950’s), would feel proud.
Plus – writing is just plain FUN! I enjoy the excitement I feel when I think of a new essay or chapter, or find another piece of history to polish up for the next book. It wakes me up early, and sometimes keeps me up late at the keyboard. And I love explaining things simply and easily for children – even the most complex idea or concept can be explained simply enough for a young child to understand.
Physically, there are some concerns of course. I am still quite active in the dojo (karate school that I own here on Okinawa), and have achieved positions of prestige in my society. But I watch my step and turn corners a bit more carefully than 20 years ago. I walk carefully on wet surfaces. I avoid injuries and bruising by using more skill and deception than brute force and conditioning. I don’t clash physically, emotionally, or spiritually in an effort to test or prove skill and strength (actually, I never did). Medically, I am in good shape for my age—heart, lungs, and other internal wobbly stuff all in good condition. I don’t drink alcohol or smoke, and my weight has been consistent for decades, though my wife grumbles at me over the extra piece of cake, or the Sunday afternoon cup of vanilla ice cream. I have some of the expected aches and little pains that go with my age, but they just seem to go away when I see others who have had a much harder life.
There will be further slow decline, and a gradual winding down of the life spring (unless that ol’ Mitsubishi truck hits me on my way across the street). But the best that can happen is that I see another 20 to 30 years of production that will help others even after I’m gone, and the worse may be that Death proves to be no more than a mid-thought interruption, which will just make me grouchy.
And so far, despite what is said by the holy men, the wise, the charlatans, and the fools – no one knows what comes next. I mean, we didn’t know what came next when we were all happy and content in the womb. I am sure we thought we were dying when all that came to an end and we were born. And we can’t tell unborn children that all will be well, so no one who is gone ahead can tell us that, either…
Expect the best, and look forward to having fun.
Look for dragons.
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