Emily Davidow

I was catching up on Gretchen Craft Rubin’s wonderful Happiness Project and noting August was all about memento mori (“remember you must die”), when my brother walked in and asked if I wanted to see a great movie, Ikiru (“To Live”), about a man who learns he is dying of stomach cancer and realizes he hasn’t really lived yet at all. I found myself completely engrossed (closed my laptop!) in Kurosawa’s beautiful, timeless, moving film and repeating scenes so I could enjoy them again.

One scene that touched me was Toyo explaining to Kanji the happiness she derived from making toys that other people would enjoy. I couldn’t help but think of Chumby! I know it won’t make me as happy as I think it will, and I’ve come to appreciate the desire itself without requiring its fulfillment. Nonetheless, I want a Chumby to wake up, play with and make fun mods for… now!

Bonus: Meditate on your death with Bob Thurman in the beautiful temple of the tigress lair, Taktsang Monastery in Paro, Bhutan.

Ikiru, Directed by Akira Kurosawa on Amazon, IMDB, Wikipedia, Criterion Collection, Time’s all-time 100 movies.