What really matters at the end of life | BJ Miller
At the end of our lives, what do we most wish for? For many, it's simply comfort, respect, love. BJ Miller is a palliative care physician who thinks deeply about how to create a dignified,...
========== Well, we all need a reason to wake up. For me, it just took 11,000 volts. I know you're too polite to ask, so I will tell you. One night, sophomore year of college, just back from Thanksgiving holiday, a few of my friends and I
were horsing around, and we decided to climb atop
a parked commuter train. It was just sitting there,
with the wires that run overhead. Somehow, that seemed
like a great idea at the time. We'd certainly done stupider things. I scurried up the ladder on the back, and when I stood up, the electrical current entered my arm, blew down and out my feet,
and that was that. Would you believe that watch still works? Takes a licking! (Laughter) My father wears it now in solidarity. That night began my formal relationship
with d...