eat, drink and be merry

a dear friend reminded me that qoheleth said that as well as meaningless, meaningless, everything's meaningless. and he's right. we do need to eat, drink and be merry...for tomorrow...or the next day...or a few days after that...or, if you are lucky, years beyond that (which, let's face it, really are only a blink in time) we die. when you really stop to think about the wisdom behind the writing (it is after all part designated as part of wisdom literature), it's not as nihilistic as it first sounds.

my dear, wise qoheleth,
you are correct. we do not have long on this earth...though many days seem agonizingly long. so what's the point? why bother? why should we work so hard and so long? for what? to say we did...what? to have the money for the stuff that at the end of our lives we leave to someone else who will probably keep the meaningful stuff and sell the rest on ebay or in a yard sale? why do we spend so much time walking around, half dead as zombies...making mudpies when we could be swimming in the ocean? why don't we eat and drink and make merry each day? why don't we spend time making meaning out of who we are and what we love? if we really don't have much time on this earth, in this life, then why don't we live more abundantly for whatever we do have? we should eat, drink and be merry, with those whom we love, as much as possible...no, more often than that. for tomorrow, who knows? eat up. drink up. be merry. carpe diem. what are you waiting for?