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We undertake what could be called the “march of existence” — simultaneously open and finite. We are born and head toward the unknown — some more upright than others, some more aware of the uncertainties along the way, and others less so.

Swiss sculptor Giacometti shaped this universal human anguish in the sculpture L’homme qui marche. The lofty longilineal figure — in rough bronze, with one leg extended forward in a lengthy and firm stride — summarizes the movement of human existence and the strength from resilience we have to rely on along this journey.

It is difficult for us to admit that only in death will we reach the exact curvature of the arc of life. Even more challenging is for us to imagine that this arc — unknown and from a parabola that is only outlined — envelops the power that impels us to live.

In The Denial of Death, the American philosopher Ernest Becker states that the awareness of our mortality is so deeply rooted in our psyche that, whether we think about it or not, it affects the way we live in this world, it shapes the decisions we make, determines how we invest our time and, most importantly, it shapes who we become.