A year or so ago I passed out at a party – one minute I was talking to someone and the next I’m waking up on the ground. Fortunately, there were several doctors at the event and when they ascertained that I’d given blood earlier that day, they were satisfied that it was related to that. But the experience got me thinking about how fleeting life really is and all the next day I reflected on whether I’d done (or was still doing) enough with my time here on earth. Like many, I’d always assumed my work and career was enough, but it’s all the other stuff – with family and friends, that needs to balance and round out who and what I am. We’ve all been to enough funerals to wonder what our own eulogies might be and, frankly, I’m hoping it will be good. But that means I have to always do more for others than for myself, to give more than I take, and care about others whether it’s reciprocated or not. It’s too bad that it took losing consciousness to remind me to be serious about what I do. Make the most of what you do today.
Philip Seymour Hoffman (1967 – 2014): American actor, director, and producer
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