Hey what’s up ravers,

I may not know all of you by name or in-person but I do know one thing for sure and that is ALL of us have experienced some form of grief through death of a loved one – a family member, a pet, a friend, a friend’s friend etc etc.’

As I’m turning 40 end of the year, I know this is going to be the reality I will begin to face more and more of. With public news of DJ Deeon‘s passing, my personal friends (yes plural) dealing with family grief, as well as my own family (my 99-year old dad is not doing well) this is a topic I am not going to shy away from.

While it is excruciating to deal with losses from death of loved ones, what we need to realize is that our time will eventually come too. The only thing I can guarantee you is that every person in this mailer (including me) will die one day, some earlier others later on. But the guarantee is there! 1000%

This is not a thought that’s supposed to scare you, but if you are scared then I’m sorry but the truth hurts. We instead should turn that fear and pain and redirect it to a mindset of

“HOW LUCKY ARE WE TO ALL BE ALIVE RIGHT NOW!”

We are lucky to still see (insert your favorite people or animal) that you deeply love and care about. I hate the saying that you only live once, No you don’t! You only die once, you actually live everyday so go make the best of it!

While experiencing grief from death of a loved one hurts, understand that in life there is no gain without pain. Life was meant to be hard, and going through this type of grief is one of the hardest things we ALL have to eventually deal with sooner or later. Be blessed in the present moment of life and honor those who have passed before us to live ours to the fullest.

I’ll save the longer version of this story for another time, but it was because of losing my girlfriend (at the time) in a single car accident in 2005 followed by the death of my Grandmother that raised me 4-months after that made me realize life is short, we’re all going to die so why should I not live mine to the fullest it can be?

This was how my journey into electronic music started which turned into the best thing I have ever done with my life. You see, living through this grief will only grow you as a person. Lessons can be learned and actions will be taken to change the course of your life for the better.

For those of us who are alive today, I kid you not….say I love you more, hug more, be present for others more. While they all sound “GREAT” to “ACT” on it consistently is very hard to do.

This morning, I was able to tell my Fiance’ I love her before going to the gym as well as my best friend via Slack that I love him after I responded to his message last night. To me, that is the ultimate power of Memento Mori, to remember that we’re going to die one day means we have all the power now to live our life to the best it can be.

I LOVE YOU ALL for the support including the haters who find me annoying. I love you all because when death hits us in the face, this is the only thing that will conquer the grief and the pain.

Let’s all live to the fullest for we do not know how much time any of us have here in this precious earth.

All my best to you,

JIA @ WORK