Author's Note
The Story Behind The Dash
Over the years, I've met so many incredible people and heard heartfelt stories from folks all around the world about how one little poem touched them so deeply. The Dash has literally inspired millions. It has changed lives, but none more than my own.
Watch & Listen
Linda Recites The Dash
Linda Ellis, author of the original poem The Dash, recites her work.
In Linda's Words
How It All Began
While it still amazes me, a simple poem I wrote one afternoon forever changed my life. It all began when I sent a copy of this poem to a syndicated radio show in Atlanta. Soon after receiving it, the host read it on the air. Little did I know how much my life would change from that day forward.
Titled The Dash, these thirty-six lines have touched millions of lives and traveled all over the world. I call it uncomplicated poetry in a complicated world.
People are always asking what inspired me to write it. I believe it was a combination of things. I was working for the top executives of a very large corporation — a strict company with a tense environment. I began to watch how priorities had become misaligned. The bosses were worrying far too much about things inconsequential in the scope of life.
Also resonating in my mind were the words from a letter routed around the office — written by the wife of an employee who knew she was dying. I was so moved that I saved a copy and continue to live by her words:
Regrets? I have a few. Too much worrying. I worried about finding the right husband and having children, being on time, being late, and so on. It didn't matter. It all works out, and it would have worked out without the worries and the tears. If I would have only known then what I know now. But I did, and so do you. We're all going to die. Stop worrying and start loving and living.
Her words stuck with me. This is it. This is all we get.
I remember where I was when I first truly realized the significance of what I had written. I was on a business trip in Minnesota, alone in a hotel room, when I received an emotional email from a student who had heard the poem at a memorial gathering for the Columbine High School students. I sat on the bed and cried.
Several years later, I found myself engulfed in the thoughts and feelings created by my own words as I listened to them read aloud for what seemed like the very first time — at the funeral of my father…my best friend. I write this exactly one year from that day, and never have the words meant more to me.
From being performed in an elementary school play in the heartland of America to being shared with the President of the United States, from bestselling novels to high school yearbooks — The Dash has truly affected millions.
I know writing The Dash has changed my life. I hope reading it, in some way, may change yours.
Live Your Dash,
Linda
The Original Poem
The Dash
by Linda Ellis
I read of a man who stood to speak at the funeral of a friend. He referred to the dates on the tombstone from the beginning to the end.
He noted first came the date of the birth and spoke the following date with tears. But he said what mattered most of all was the dash between the years.
For that dash represents all the time that they spent life on Earth. And now only those who loved them know what that little line is worth.
For it matters not how much we own, the cars, the house, the cash. What matters is how we live and love, and how we spend our dash.
So, think about this long and hard. Are there things you'd like to change? For you never know how much time is left that can still be rearranged.
If we could just slow down enough to consider what's true and real, and always try to understand the way other people feel.
And be less quick to anger, and show appreciation more, and love the people in our lives like we've never loved before.
If we treat each other with respect and more often wear a smile, remembering that this special dash might only last a little while.
So, when your eulogy is being read with your life's actions to rehash, would you be proud of the things they say about how you spent your dash?
www.LindaEllis.life
The Dash original poem now owned and managed by Southwestern Family of Publishers
Support the Poet
I share my poetry here because I love to know that my words are touching hearts and lives.
If something I've written has touched your life, made you think, helped you through a difficult moment, or simply made you smile, you can help support my continued writing.
There is never any obligation. If you'd like to support the poet, I am grateful.