David Marcus: Lieutenant Saavik was right: You never have faced death.
Kirk: No. Not like this. I haven’t faced death. I’ve cheated death. I’ve tricked my way out of death and patted myself on the back for my ingenuity. I know nothing.
David Marcus: You knew enough to tell Saavik that how we face death is at least as important as how we face life.
Kirk: Just words.
David Marcus: But good words. That’s where ideas begin. Maybe you should listen to them.
– Star Trek II: Wrath of Kahn (1982)
Reflecting on this week, I’ve been confronted with the word death more than a couple of times. My good friend and former colleague had a father pass away. Another colleague is leaving the city he grew up in and characterized his departure as “the death of this chapter, the birth of the next.” In my own life, I described divorce as a death. Especially one having spent fifteen years which produced two children. The longer the marriage, the longer the pain. Feels like death.
Losing a job which you loved is also a death. This is the third time I’ve unexpectedly lost a job due to economic realities, forced downsizing, or the company moving and not relocating it’s people. Putting your soul into your work means you leave a part of you behind. Building IT is like a birth. Leaving IT, to never see it again feels like a death.
So, this week’s quote is from Kirk’s son, David Marcus. Where Kirk is dealing with the death of his friend, Spock, and the advice given is my reminder of how we should go on: How we face death is as important as how we face life.
\\ JMM