The First Pillar: No One lives Forever

The First Pillar:

No one lives forever.

One of the fundamental problems of being a vampire is that people keep telling you that you’re going to live forever.

It’s not true.

In fact, it’s overwhelmingly and demonstrably untrue.

Oh sure, get some time under your belt, learn a few tricks, and your life expectancy goes WAY WAY up. You might even out-last your sire or your siblings, or even your childer.

But no one lives forever.

No one.

In fact, most of us will die, likely by violence or by our own hand.

You can’t even say that you’ll live forever with a straight face, knowing that a sun-tan will definitely destroy you completely.

So the best thing that you can do is stop acting like you’re going to live forever. YOU more than any mortal know EXACTLY how fragile life is.  You are living on borrowed time, No...I correct myself. You are living on STOLEN time. and frankly you had better make the most of it. it is a moral imperative that you do so.

LEARN everything you can manage to learn and as fast as you can learn it.

EXPERIENCE as much as you can fit into your mind and heart.

DO as much as you can to leave the world a better place than you found it.

USE the powers that you’ve been given to accomplish the things you want to accomplish.

Because, sooner or later Insanity or fear or torpor will catch up to you and try to slow you down. 

Don’t you let it. 

Don’t kid yourself like the humans do that you’ve got all the time in the world. Life moves pretty fast, and as the man said. If you don’t stop and look around a bit, you might miss it.  

You don’t have time for fear.

You don’t have time for Insanity. In fact, if you used as much energy battling your demons, as you do excusing your behavior simply because you have them...You’d beat them every time.

Torpor...well. There may not be a way around that...yet. Check in with the Ordo from time to time and see if we’ve licked the problem.

But stop acting like you’ve won the fucking time lottery. 

Get to work. Tonight.

And as a corrollary to this idea. Learn to HATE wasted time.  I’m not saying don’t learn how to be patient. Learn to be patient. But if you’re sitting at court waiting on the Prince and his retinue to arrive, take the opportunity to introduce yourself around to the newbies and visitors. See what you can do network-wise. Catch up on news and gossip. Hell, knit a sweater if you think it will keep you from losing your cool. But learn to hate a waste of time.  Learn to avoid anyone who seems like they want to waste yours. Learn to hate any other vampire who wants you to just keep spinning your wheels.  Every moment is a weapon. 

Learn to wield it.