“You have to die a few times before you can really live”.
A Poignant, yet Sanguine statement. Nothing less would be expected from Bukowski, as without statements like so, he would not be Bukowski. Typically well known for his numerous pieces of striking yet honest writing, there is no piece of his that has touched me quite as deeply as that sentence.
The reality of the struggles in life can be something that many can find quite difficult to comprehend, leaving them wondering if the problems that are now or previously in their lives can define the future that lies ahead of them. In this short sentence Bukowski shows how this is not the reality of the situation.
From day to day each one of us tend to look at our own life and think about all the pain and suffering we have endured throughout our years. This sentence stands as a reminder. Not a reminder of the bad things we have been through and how they have torn us down but how these things have now given us the chances to grow through the dirt and appreciate life for what it is. It is a reminder that without the bad days we do not have the ability to understand and appreciate the good ones.
As a child I had an intense fear of most things in life; the dark, outer space, falling, dying. As i grew older these fears became more intense to the point where I could barely function and I felt that I would never truly live, that my life would stay mediocre and dull. Since reading that single sentence I realised that the struggle I went through was absolutely necessary, that I had to “die” before I could understand what life is about, before I could appreciate all the small things that I had not appreciated before, before I - as a wise man once said - “could really live”.
Charles Bukowski reflecting on his thoughts, before his death in 1994.
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