(and) I Feel Fine

The next item on my To Do list today simply says "blog". I had no idea what I wanted to write about and had nothing prepared, so I decided to sift through Facebook. I came across a couple status updates reminding me of tomorrow's impending doom, but nothing rang a bell for me until I saw this:

"If the end of the world really were tomorrow, and we knew it, how would you spend these last few hours?"

Thank you, Writing Gods and MDB for being Their prophet today! 

Of the 23 responses when I happened upon it, they were split fairly evenly between realistic and fantastical. The realistic responses were mostly of the "spend it with my family and be grateful." The fantastic involved indulgence and a lot of sex.

Realistically, if we really were aware of the End Times so far in advance, travel to be with far-away family would likely be close to impossible due to the fact that most people would probably stop going to work at some point, meaning no flights, trains or buses. The best we'd have is to travel by car, but gas would be hoarded and hard to come by. I imagine gas station takeovers and bartering supplies and food for fuel. Civilization would become post-apocalyptic before the Apocalypse even had a chance to get started, in which case I'd immediately regret not ever watching Doomsday Preppers and hopping on that bandwagon that would now seem much less silly.

My ideal final days without any consideration for probability and possibility would involve everyone I care about in one place, preferably at my mom's house in Ohio. I'd have all of my family and each of my friends at an arm's reach (figuratively; I'm pretty claustrophobic). We'd build a bonfire to circle around, bundled up with hats and scarves, blankets and pillows, sharing stories and reminiscing. There would be a potluck feast of our favorite foods and we'd drink to our liver's discontent. If there's no tomorrow, then there's no hangover.* (Not to mention our imminent death would be much less painful.)

The end of the Mayan calendar has been this decade's Y2K. The thought that the world is going to end tomorrow is silly, really, but what it has offered me was a chance to really decide what I find to be most important in my life: the love of my family and closest friends, and the time I get to spend with each and every one of them.


How would you spend your final hours?


*This was inspired by my brother-in-law, Mike's quote from a couple years ago: "I'm not thinking about tomorrow when I'm drinking today."