EULOGY FOR MAYMIE CHAN
Maymie was remembered by her partner, family, and friends for showing them what it meant to live, love, and laugh out loud.
She was compassionate, fiercely loving, strong-willed, free-spirited, and proudly weird and wacky. She was a champion for the underdog and highly involved in her communities. Her deep empathy towards the unspoken pain and suffering in the world led her to spend her life spreading the message of vitalism. Her reverence for health and the human body helped transform our vision for what’s possible for humanity.
Her life philosophy was to "try everything on at least once" which led her to explore many unwalked paths including chiropractor, best-selling author, social entrepreneur, and "Oldest Woman to Travel to Space".
She died of natural causes in her sleep, contemplating where she'd go and who she'd be in her next life. She leaves behind her sweetheart Ben, their children, grandchildren, Hamilton Purrbox V, and their other adoring pets at The Sanctuary.
“What do I spend my time on?”
"How do I know that's what truly matters in the end?"
“What is the meaning of all of this?”
The scar where I had a malignant tumor is a daily reminder that my time here on Earth is few and precious. Yet, knowing that doesn't help the answers come any easier. But when I signed up for the Khe Hy's Supercharge Your Productivity course, I started to develop a systematic process to examine my choices to take meaningful actions in my life.
He reminded us that productivity isn't about mindless optimization, but rather about mindfully living with our horizons in sight. To this effect, he had us write our own eulogy. You read mine above.
Keeping congruent with mindful action, Khe had us use the 5 Why's framework to understand our motivations for enrolling in his course. Was there something deeper than just trying to get more stuff done? Here's what I discovered:
Why did I enroll in Supercharge Your Productivity?
To have a system to be able to do everything that I want to do in life - like writing, swimming, coaching, relationships, etc.
Why do I need to be able to do everything that I want to do in my life?
So that I can be healthy, happy, and fulfilled, and in action in life achieving my destiny.
Why do I need to be in action achieving my destiny?
So that I can feel that my life is meaningful, I'm here for a reason, and there's a point to it all.
Why does there need to be a point to it all?
I need to know/trust that all the suffering in the world is part of a greater plan.
Why do I need to know that there is a greater plan?
So that I can truly know that love is real.
"To know love is real?!" That is way more soft and squishy than I thought. Yet, the truth in my words moved me to tears.
Knowing that LOVE is my key motivator on the productivity hamster wheel, can I build a practice out of it? Ultimately, more important than anything I'd like to accomplish before I die is who I am being while I’m alive - someone who embodies love in action. Maybe that means connecting with a friend each week to get into their world or decocting stinky tonic herbs for my friends who just had a baby?
Yes to all of that.
Reading the eulogy I wrote for myself, I laugh because it’s not all true (yet) and some of it is outlandish. But I also cry, because this is the moment-to-moment intention for my life. This is the gold I’ve been treasure hunting, the meaning I’ve been seeking!
Now I get create a life of action, working to close that gap between our hopeless reality and my doe-eyed vision for love.
I've heard about Khe Hy's course. He was also a guest speaker at BASB 12. His enthusiasm and energy is amazing!
Eulogy gave me legit shivers down my spine. Powerful.