This insightful Op-ed by Oliver Sacks gives the reader a glimpse into his struggle with cancer. Faced with his own mortality, he ruminates on how to live his life to its fullest, most productive best. He employs the philosophy of David Hume, regarding detachment from the present, and chooses instead to deepen his connections with the landscape, with the people around him and with himself. He claims, instead, to detach himself from negative aspects of the world around him, paying little attention to sensationalist news or the inevitability of climate change. Rather, he prefers to put his limited time to experiencing life in its entirety.
Read an excerpt of the article written by Oliver Sacks:
A month ago, I felt that I was in good health, even robust health. At 81, I still swim a mile a day. But my luck has run out: A few weeks ago I learned that I have multiple metastases in the liver. Nine years ago it was discovered that I had a rare tumor of the eye, an ocular melanoma. Although the radiation and lasering to remove the tumor ultimately left me blind in that eye, only in very rare cases do such tumors metastasize. I am among the unlucky 2 percent. I feel grateful that I have been granted nine years of good health and productivity since the original diagnosis, but now I am face to face with dying. The cancer occupies a third of my liver, and though its advance may be slowed, this particular sort of cancer cannot be halted. ...read more