Not a freewrite this time. Just the word that came to mind earlier this evening.
The fragility of life, although something that intellectually many of us knows is a reality, can feel like an abstract concept. We know that life isn’t promised and can change in an instant; yet it feels far removed from daily life. Until it’s not.
Early this morning as I did my usual flit through social media, I saw a picture of Kobe Bryant on a friend’s instagram feed. There was no text with it, or maybe I was just scrolling through so fast I missed it*. The only thought that crossed my mind at the time, was maybe he had been awarded something.
Later on in the day, I saw something else that made me alert to the fact that something was wrong, I searched online, and immediately found that it wasn’t fake news, it was true.
I stopped reading the news article part way through. It was just too tragic. An awful reality. I thought of his family, and the family of the other’s on board, said a breath prayer for them; but I didn’t want to engage with it any further.
Not because I was lacking in empathy, rather I think because a recent loss is just still too fresh.
By later this evening, more things began to be posted on social media, and I made myself engage with something my cousin posted on facebook.
As I watched it, (a brief musical tribute at the Grammy Awards)** that’s when the word ‘fragile’ came to mind.
In this ‘fragile’ life, we have to hold the tension of acknowledging and accepting our finiteness, with not being so fearful of this reality that we live in dread. Potentially putting our lives on pause and living a life limited.
Honestly, I can’t say I followed Kobe Bryant and knew anything much about him, but from the little I knew he definitely didn’t live a life limited.
May he, his daughter, and the other lives lost, rest in peace.*** May their families somehow find strength and comfort at this time.
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*On re-checking, it was the latter.
***Current information on the other crash victims: