And, of course, the release of love isn’t just the purpose of death, but also the purpose of life. Yet, for too many of us, the purpose of life is the avoidance of death—by a thousand distractions, by endless busyness, by relentless narcissism, by obsessive overwork. For some, there will come a time when the specter of death brings clarity to what life is all about. But that clarity is available to us now. As Joan Halifax writes, “We are all terminal.” And we are all caregivers—of others and of ourselves. We spend so much time searching for tips on how to extend our lives and eke out a little
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