Rider Profile

54 days I watched someone die. Not in a morbid way but in a contemplative curious way. Holding on tightly but letting go lightly. The soul departs long before the body does. The body will do what it's designed to do, the heart keeps beating, the lungs keep breathing, the kidneys keep filtering —all along on auto-pilot while the soul has already released and escaped. Will we be ready when our own death arrives? Why not get comfortable with the idea of death. Never have I felt more alive than realizing how subtle the shift to death can be. Would I have said everything I wanted to say—done everything I wanted to do? We are defined by the impact we have on others. That is all that is left when we leave our bodies.

I am taking part in Bellringer this year not because I truly believe we will have a cure for cancer —or poverty or war or general human suffering while we're at it—but because it is a movement that sparks hope and reminds me of my mortality. Just because we may not achieve the highest goal does not mean we shouldn't strive. Just because we may not win doesn't mean we shouldn't play. Just because we will die doesn't mean we shouldn't live. Remembering we all must die, reminds us we all must live.

Please join me in the movement—not to end cancer but to strive to elevate the human experience. It's not over until it's over and may we bow out gracefully when the time comes.