The Space Between Nonexistence

Mark Katsouros

January 10, 2022

 

I have a long commute—three hours each way, to be exact.  Ah, but silver linings.  My PHEV essentially drives itself on the highway.  That gives me an inordinate amount of time to just think.  To continuously revisit my own purposefulness.  To ponder life’s big questions.  To constantly re-ask the question, “Why?”  Why are we here?  What’s our purpose?   How does one make this blink of an eye that is one’s lifetime seem meaningful?

For the longest time, we don’t exist, and then, for the relatively briefest of moments, we do, and then we don’t again.  Forever.  In some sense, that’s incredibly disconcerting, but, in another, it’s incredibly calming.  Our briefness should be our superpower.  It should be our inspiration.  To savor every single moment.  To have an impact on the world and, specifically, the people around us, most especially our loved ones.

We are given this incredible gift, whether by cosmic accident or intentionally.  (Nobody really knows, but the possibility of designed impermanence, and thus focus, seems incredibly interesting to me, even if the designer simply turns out to be the nature of the cosmos.)

“Our briefness should be our superpower.”

Here’s what I’ve concluded:  There is no greater joy than love—in the sharing of yourself in a way that brings joy to others.  And in expanding our circle to make this group of “others” as large as possible.  Because, at the end of the day (and I mean “day” as a metaphor here), I believe one rests more peacefully having accomplished this.  Maybe it even makes the end more easily comprehensible/acceptable.

So, moving forward, I’m going to try hard (really hard) to start each day with this in mind.  I’m going to try to laugh more (and help others laugh more), spread more joy and kindness, empathize with others more, create and share more art and beauty, seek more adventures with my loved ones, and just generally be appreciative of every moment in this space between nonexistence.

Because, in the blink of an eye, this will all be gone.  But maybe, with a good dose of deliberateness, the love and joy we share with others will have a much longer-lasting legacy.

Mark Katsouros is the Director of IT Support Services at Duquesne University.  Mark is responsible for the directly-customer-facing/high-touch services provided by Duquesne's Computing and Technology Services (CTS):  The Service Management Office, CTS Learning Labs (digital classrooms) and Collaboration Commons, the Duquesne Computer Store, Endpoint Engineering (enterprise configuration and mobility management), Endpoint Operations (endpoint deployment and deskside support), the IT Service Desk, and CTS Communications (MarCom).  These are his opinions, and not necessarily those of Duquesne University.