Comments on: The Measurement of Life

By: scheng1

scheng1 — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:51:25 +0000

The professor is very wise. I rather have 7 days of life in heaven than eighty years in hell

By: An Introduction To Lifestyle Design

An Introduction To Lifestyle Design — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:23:46 +0000

[...] and it turns out there is a whole group of awesome people out there blogging, teaching, living the principles of lifestyle design. I love reading about their lives and what they are doing with the idea of [...]

By: Mike Siete-Cinco

Mike Siete-Cinco — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:42:55 +0000

"Do you measure the quality of a life by its duration or by the intensity with which it’s lived?"

When you give everything that you are to something and it is done with full focus, each moment can feel like an eternity. Time seemingly stops-it is so wonderful. Give me the 7 days of intensity and then you can do with this body what you will.

By: Kristin

Kristin — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:56:09 +0000

I vote for intensity. But I suppose that's always been my way. I see the value in living a long life and having all the time outside of your profession to pursue the lifestyle you want and your passions, and that might work alright if you know you get to live for 80 years. But we don't know that. So I vote for intensity, because if all else fails, I had an unforgettable week (though I'd be dead, so I don't know why unforgettable would be important), fulfilled all my dreams, and would carry no regrets.

By: Nate

Nate — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:05:43 +0000

Very nice. I'm going to say I measure quality of life with intensity here. But, lifestyle design is all about finding the middle ground, and that's what we are all striving for! It's possible to live a long, and very happy life doing stuff that doesn't suck.

By: W. J. TILLY

W. J. TILLY — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:03:32 +0000

Somehow, this question reminds me of THE LAST LECTURE by Randy Pausch. If you have not seen it, I highly recommend you invest 1 hour to watch it.

[youtube ji5_MqicxSo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo youtube]

By: W. J. TILLY

W. J. TILLY — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:01:46 +0000

Great question!! Having worked at the same place for the past 36+ years, I often look back and say, what if….. Making decisions based on "finances" vs passion is not a fair trade. I think humans are creative beings by nature and to stiffle that creative energy and flow, makes us less than what we are, and prevents us from touching all of the lives we could have…. who knows the impact of just 1 song, one photograph, one painting, one new non-profit organization. I cannot change the past, all I can do now is hope to do better in the future and during retirement.

By: thelifething

thelifething — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:55:39 +0000

Doing Industrial Design at university we had a few awesome teachers like the one you speak of who really changed my thinking in very visual ways.

One such teacher spent the very first 3 hours of our first lecture creating the most brilliant pen and ink rendering of a car concept. We were stunned with his abilty and penmenship...but were soon to find out that develping pour skills was not the lesson.

At the end of the lesson he calmly picked up the drawing, removed his lighter from his pocket and set it on fire, destroying his work. He ended the lesson simply saying "If you get precious about your ideas or your abilities you have already lost" and walked out.

I liked that lecturer.

Great post

By: Rasheed Hooda

Rasheed Hooda — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:10:45 +0000

Great message, JD

Yeah, my art teacher in High School always seems to show up on any list of heroes I write out. As far as visual arts is concerned, I suck, except for Photography. He only had one strict rule in his class. "No erasers allowed"

I'd like to hear about the rest of the five weeks.

Rasheed

By: Diggy-Upgradereality

Diggy-Upgradereality — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:08:33 +0000

Hey JD! Great post man, you had my attention all the way through.

As for the answer, it depends how set in stone the two options are. If you have 80 years but work a job you hate, you only work the usual 9-5 and have all those other hours and weekends free to start a side business,follow you hobbies and create something to break out of the job. You still get to have a wife, maybe start a family, get to travel every now and then. So if all this was possible I would choose the second option.

Thanks for sharing. Btw, your sharing twitter icon does not work correctly, maybe have a look? Cheers Diggy