Live Like You’re Already Dead
(Sunday Love Letter, vol. 6)
There’s a phrase people love to throw around:
“Live like you’re dying.”
And as a die hard existentialist (see what I did there?),
it sounds romantic.
Bucket lists. Brave confessions.
One last wild dance before… the curtain falls.
But here’s the truth:
That mindset still isn’t far enough… it still centers fear.
It still clings to the idea that there’s something to lose.
It’s still bargaining with time.
There’s another way. One the Samurai lived by.
As a military kid growing up in Yokohama, Japan, I was quietly obsessed with these ancient warriors.
Their silence. Their discipline. The way they moved like the world didn’t own them.
I’d trace their armor through museum glass, watch them flicker across temple walls.
Even as a child, I could feel it… they lived like death was already behind them.
And something about that felt honest.
Uncomplicated.
FREE.
“The way of the warrior is death.”
They didn’t mean someday.
They meant NOW.
If you’ve already died, there’s nothing to protect.
No identity to defend.
No permission to wait for.
Just this moment, stripped of expectation, soaked in truth.
This wasn’t about glory or aggression.
It was about presence.
Clean action.
Decisions made without delay or apology.
When death becomes your starting point, everything else becomes optional.
Obligation. Image. Control.
You begin to move from ESSENCE, not ego.
Most people are exhausted from living halfway.
Thinking they need to heal more before they can taste life.
Thinking they need to be more palatable before they pursue what they really want.
But you don’t get a refund on an unused soul.
… read that again.
There’s no prize for dying with your desire still in check.
There’s no trophy for tolerating a life that never fit.
So here’s the move:
Don’t live like you’re dying.
LIVE LIKE YOU’RE ALREADY DEAD.
Get rid of the storyline that says your real life starts after you earn it.
Touch what you want to touch.
Say what’s been sitting in your mouth for years.
Quit what numbs you.
Run toward what sets your teeth on fire.
This is your inheritance:
Fully. Feral. Unapologetic.
You’re not here to rehearse your life.
You’re here to devour it.
No more waiting for a sign.
No more pretending time isn’t passing.
Live like you’ve already died.
And watch how quickly the noise falls away.
All that’s left is what matters.
And you’ll know exactly what to do with it.
With bare hands and an open throat,
Tams
Let the world watch me want it all.