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I’m stealing this idea from an essay in High Country News, November 13, 2017. Journalists Ana Maria Spagna and Laura Pritchett posed the simple question: “What would you do if you knew the world was ending, and you had 24 hours to live?” Actually, the question is not so simple. The essay shifts back and forth between the two authors as each grapples with a thoughtful and honest reply to the question.
- Where would you want to be? Outdoors? Indoors? In bed? In front of the fireplace? In a blizzard?
- Would you want to be alone? Surrounded by friends? Family? Pets?
- What would you want to hear in your last moments on earth? Music? Birds? Silence?
- What would you want your eyes to fall on in your last hours and moments?
I confess, I’m not in the habit of thinking about the end. I’m too involved in the present to expend much time or energy thinking about the end. The chance of being able to control any of these factors is remote, so why bother? However, the idea does present a fine context for winnowing out what is really important. I need to spend some time thinking about this before I draw conclusions. I plan to check back in a few weeks with my answer to the question: What would I do if the world was coming to an end in 24 hours?
How about you? Any thoughts?
Rangewriter 
You say: “The chance of being able to control any of these factors is remote, so why bother?” I go along with that. I assume the world is not going to end withing 24 hours. But if one day we should find out that the end of the world is that close, well, I’d probably try to enjoy the last few hours as much as possible doing also the things I absolutely love doing.
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What would that look like Auntyuta? What things do you most enjoy doing? Walking/cuddling with your husband? Eating the most decadent meal or drinking something you normally consider too fancy or too unhealthy? Reading a book? Staring at the sky?
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I very much like all your suggestions, Linda. Having the family over for a delicious meal would top this. I hope all this would leave me a bit of time for writing. Yes, I would like to write about it what I did during the last 24 hours. Print it out and put it in a time capsule, how about this?
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I love it! Especially the irony of a time capsule! I’m sure eating and drinking very decadently will be included on my list, when I finally figure it out. I want to really think about it. Alone? I think mine will also need to include some spectacular natural beauty and rich music…maybe Rachmaninoff? So much to think about.
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” I plan to check back in a few weeks with my answer to the question: What would I do if the world was coming to an end in 24 hours?”
This is cheating, Linda, isn’t it? The deal was 24 hours.
I think the question is an exercise in futility. Would the powers in charge tell us at all? What is meant by the “World”? The Earth as such or only mankind coming to a sticky end?
There are too many questions before the main question can even be answered. “Why bother?” Indeed it is an event that exists only in the mind of idle people.
We know already how the World will end and we have about 4.5 billion years notice: An expanding world will swallow up Earth.
An asteroid could come and destroy life on Earth as we know end. Scientists tell us we would have a few years of warning of such an event. But would they tell us?
My stay on this Earth is a bit uncertain at the present but I’m sure it is more than 24 hours. What I like best in any circumstance is being with my wife.
I’m still looking forward, with optimism, to the next 24 hours and beyond.
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Ha! Good point, Berlioz! I did sort of cheat. I think to understand the premise of the question, a peek at the original essay would be helpful.
This was not meant as a prediction of things to come. It was meant as an exercise in thinking about what we hold most dear. Sometimes its the obvious things. But other times it is not. One person would list to Van Halen. That notion makes me shudder. I have to think about just what music I would most love to select if it were to be the last I’d ever hear. Perhaps this question is not much different from the “stranded on an island” exercise. I’m still thinking.
I have not had the benefit of sharing a bottle of wine with a friend as we probed each other’s passions. But, as I think of it, I may yet to do to come up with my own answer.
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Yikes! I think I would be overcome with fear and sadness. I’d probably choose to cuddle with my husband… maybe drink a really expensive bottle of wine. Not being religious, I wouldn’t have the comfort of thinking there is a next life… just an end to one I love.
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I wonder….if we all learned at the same time…could we imagine peace on earth for 24 hours?
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Most of my family is too far away for that get together. Not sure if I’d even call them as they all know I love them and they love me.
I would be sad that my daughter’s life would be cut too short while I got to live a pretty long full life.
I think North America would descend into chaos. Knowing the world was about to end many folk would feel they could do whatever they want without recourse.
Some would flock to houses of worship.
I would head to the beach with my dogs. I hope it would be summer and mild. I would take quite a few of my anti anxiety meds so I could be chill and not panicked and I would walk and throw the ball. And I would carry on a fairly anxious dialogue with God.
In truth I would not want to know if the world was ending in 24 hours. I’d rather let it just be surprise.
What worries me is becoming old and ill and actually knowing something like this and being bed-bound in hospital and not being able to be with my dogs on that beach ….
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This is a good exercise for ‘what if’ options… I am in a little hostal in Jama, and most of the people who shared their earthquake experience said, ‘I thought it was the end of the world…’
I think ‘where’ we are when given that 24-hour notice will play a role in how we approach those final hours… I would want to make that 4-hour drive and would sit outside with nature all around me – and just get quiet…. but i have some young friends who endured the earthquake, slept in their cars for at least a week – and I might choose to find them and help them stay calm….’ – as there would be some serious stress carryover from the earthquake….
Or perhaps I’ll whistle for the white unicorn to materialize, hop aboard and try to slay whatever demon that was about to destroy our world!
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I can see you doing either (or both) of the unicorn option and the comforting young friends option. That is who you are to the end, Lisa.
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As I’m no longer the teenage art student I was half a century ago, which was the last time I was asked the same question, I will have to have a rather long think before giiving an answer. That time I blurted out what I believed were all the available options without thinking that the particular partner I had chosen to share my final moments with might not be in accordance with my carnal desires. As the self-indulgent and hedonist rampage I’d planned to embark upon back then would almost certainly kill me long before the last 24 hours were up, should I attempt it today, I suppose I’ll have to mull the prospect over for a couple more days, before getting back to you. Having said that, I’d be dead by the time I’d decided in the event of the prospect becoming reality.
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I’m laughing out loud! Like you, my response to this question has evolved…or, I should say, changed. Evolved is a bit judgmental. At our age, we have learned to ponder options a bit more deeply, I think. That’s why it takes a bit of thought to come up with a really honest reply.
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I’ve winnowed my thoughts: If the world were coming to an end in 24 hours,
what would I do? What would surface as the most important and meaningful way to spend the last of my time? Mind you, I realize that many other people might share my own proclivities and therefore, it might just be impossible to make this happen given eclipse-like traffic jams. But here is what I would hope for.
I would hike to one of the many, as yet, unexplored, high mountain lakes in the nearby Sawtooth Range. Given that I wouldn’t need to pack my house on my back, I’d be content with a backpack filled with:
• an inflatable cushion for comfort
• a bottle of really fine red wine—perhaps Koenig Vinyards’ 2013 Cuvee Amelia Reserve Syrah—maybe two bottles (I would be blessedly free to drink water straight from the streams.)
• a box of fine Belgian Pralines (perhaps protein-bolstered by a perfectly medium-rare cooked slice of cold prime rib of beef)
• an iPod with backup battery, loaded with some of my favorite music—Samuel Barber’s Symphony #1; Barber’s Adagio for Strings performed by William Orbit; Bach’s Concerto for 2 violins in D minor; Cesar Franck’s Symphony in D minor; Franz Liszt’s Mazeppa; Brahms’ German Requiem; Beethoven’s 6th and 9th Symphonies; Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto #2—funny, initially I thought I’d only bring one work, but selecting just one is impossible.
Between songs, I would mix in hours of only nature’s sounds: birds, frogs, insects, tumbling or tinkling water, leaves fluttering in the breeze, stillness. Of course, I envision a lovely, sunny Idaho day and starry night…but in the mountains, that could also encompass a weather event of terrifying excitement or it could mean a mid-winter day, so I’d have to pack appropriate clothes to stay comfortable. Preparation is the hallmark of a well-lived life.
I’ve given much consideration to the heavy question: in-company or solo? Being the utterly selfish and inner focused person that I am, I’ve not met the person/s I would invite to come between me and my parting with a life so rich in devastating beauty, so I would be solo on my mountain. (That bit might be the hardest thing to pull off.)
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Interesting question Linda! I will have to think about it too. I will check back to see your answer.
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Oh … OK, I see you have below.
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It is an interesting question. However, like you I don’t go around thinking about the end. I’d rather not know that I have 24 hours left, and then just go on living as I do. Of course, if I did get to know, I sure would prioritize how to spend the last 24 hours. And for an exercise to figure out what is important in your life, raising the question at all has some value. I would probably try to spend time with my family, share good memories and try to not think too much about the end (although it’s probably hard not to).
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Since the scenario includes the rest of the world as we know it blinking out, I think it puts a heightened emphasis on all that we think we hold dear. It looks like most people would opt to be in the company of family and loved ones. That is a natural response for the social animals we are.
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Great question. Either walking on a beach or in the mountains taking it all in with my wife. If our kids wanted to be with us, that would be grand.
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I love that open-endedness regarding your kids. People often assume to much about their families.
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Linda, my guess is the kids would choose to be either with their closest friends or us. They would be welcomed if they chose the latter, but we would connect somehow if they chose the former. Keith
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Such a complicated question, Linda. One year ago, my answer would have been quite different. One year from now, my answer would likely be quite different. But at this point in time, I am in pause mode and cannot visualize much more than enjoying a fine steak with a bottle of Bordeaux topped off with a truly decadent chocolate creation.
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You raise a really valid point, Doreen. Why wouldn’t our answer to this question change with the times and the situation? I would surely be on board with your selections for a meal. But primary for me would be that utter solitude and proximity to raw nature that can only be found above 8,000 feet. And I wouldn’t be wanting to haul the fixings for that dinner up the mountain, so I’d settle for second best in the food department.
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Wow a big question and I agree really just reminds us to live and be present.
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