What is left after you go? What remains when you leave this place? When you die I mean, and does it even matter? I'm not sure what the answer is however I work on the premise that all things come to an end: Me, you, dynasties, planets and stars...Yes, even ours at some stage too, I guess. Again, I'm not exactly sure what will happen at the end, however I have the expectation that when I meet my own end, when I check out, life as I know it will also end. Working on that premise leaves me feeling...Eager, I guess is the right word. OK, let me define that...

I'm not eager to leave, to check out or anything like that, however my understanding, or belief, that the life I live now will come to an end when I die leaves me eager to live it to fulfilment whilst I am still in it. I know that some believe that their next life is full of wondrous things however for me I simply want to live the best now-life I can muster and what ever comes afterwards I'll face when it presents itself.

I took this image at a ghost town in South Australia's mid-north, around a couple of hundred kilometres north of the capital city of Adelaide. It was called Hampton. The town was laid out in 1857 and by 1866 there were some 30 dwellings and a Chapel on the site. Unfortunately the closure of the nearby copper mine in 1877 saw the town's decline and slow fall into disrepair. Interestingly the town was inhabited until 1960 but after that year was completely abandoned and deserted.

I walked around the town on an overcast day. It was cool and there was a light breeze rustling the dry grasses and swirling up the odd puff of dirt. I wandered around between the buildings trying to picture the layout of the town, imagining people tending gardens, chopping wood, fetching water, cooking at their hearth of stove and going about their lives without a thought to what the future might hold. It was quiet and certainly easy to think. I imagined that most, if not all of them, were simply so immersed in their lives they didn't think too much about afterwards.

I was respectful of the ruins of course but decided to stop at this house, what's left of the house, and sit amongst the fallen stones. My wife sat beside me and we talked about small things simply enjoying each other's company and enjoying the silence also. Our chatting revolved around the township, what life might have been like for them and then to its eventual decline. We wondered what it would have been like for the inhabitants as each one eventually moved away until there was only one or two, and then only one left. Did they feel forlorn and resigned to their fate or tenaciously adamant to stick it out and live their best lives whilst they could do so? Did each day bring happiness and joy or a withering feeling of finality? We'll never know of course, however it felt right to wonder about it right then, surrounded by the empty husks of houses that once cradled human life.

Life is a precious thing and time is the most precious of all commodities, don't you think? It comes and goes each and every day. It doesn't slow down, nor does it care what you do or think...It just keeps moving forward. We can't bend time to our will, that's a fools errand, however our lives? Well, they are subject to us, not us to it...That means we have the ability to shape it into what we would have it be, or at least work towards that goal. After it's over...Well, that's not going to be possible.

I wonder what the inhabitants thought of their lives at the end. They worked so hard to carve out an existence in what really is quite a barren and unwelcoming place but their toil came to naught; Just tumbled rocks, a wall here or there and windswept dusty paths almost reclaimed by the earth. I wonder if they took the advantage of the time they had to create fulfilled lives and if they looked back with no regrets.

Each day I work towards creating my life in the image I would have it be. I shape it through my deeds, actions and attitude and take stock, show accountability and the self-discipline to make changes where required. I certainly won't say I attain the best version of my life every moment however each moment I Iive is angled towards that goal so looking back I have the ability to feel no, or little regret. At some stage I won't be here...Will I be remembered? I don't know, however what I do know is that whilst I'm here I'll live it the best I know how.

Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - @galenkp

P.s. If anyone wants to hit me up on Discord: @galenkp#9209