The Dash

On a tombstone, there are two dates: the date the person is born and the date the person’s life reaches its finality. A beginning and an end. But these are single dates. Two mere instances in a person’s life. The time something started is important as is the time it ended, but the most important part of the tombstone is neither date, it’s the dash (—) in between the two dates. The dash represents everything that happened from the time a person was born to the time they took their last breath. The dash is the story of your life.

Linda Ellis wrote a poem simply titled “The Dash” where she conveys the significance of what the simple — means. The dash represents all the time the person spent on Earth. Only the people who knew and loved the person know exactly how much that — is worth. The — is a reminder that it doesn’t matter how much you own, no cars, no house, no amount of money. What matters is how you choose to live your life and how you spend the time allotted for your dash. What matters is the relationships you had, the memories, and the experiences you shared. What matters is you choosing to actually live, you choosing to fill your — with the stories of your life.

The starting point of your life is known. That date is written when you take your first breath and immediately becomes “the past.” That date is the first writing on your tombstone. The story of your dash is continually being written day in and day out. The second date, the date of your death is the question mark. This date is “the future.” You don’t know how much time is left for you to be living in your dash. One day, the dash will reach its end and the final date on your tombstone will appear. One day your dash will be a closed chapter. One day your life will have its conclusion.

Thinking about the dash and how you choose to live your dash is a reminder of how fragile life is. You don’t know how much time is left. You are constantly writing the story of your dash. Accepting that you are the author of your dash is owning the pen writing your individual story. When your day finally comes and your friends and families are talking about your dash, will you be proud of the things they say about how you spent your dash?