How do you become 104?

Before a favorite artist of mine, Hans Erni, ended his journey after the age of 104, he was interviewed by a Swiss paper.
Here’s the Q&A in summary:

Q: How do you become 104? What’s your secret.
Hans Erni: My secret is to constantly have tasks in front of me that I have to complete. When I wake up in the morning, I sit down in front of a blank sheet of paper and I never know what will come out of it. I can’t be without expressing myself through drawing. The fact that I work is an inner duty. I enjoy the freedom of being able to do what I want.
Q: Do you have a special ritual?
Hans Erni: No. I have never done anything to maintain or improve myself. Except when it comes to ethics and morals. I don’t wish anyone harm. That’s how I get up and I go to bed with the same thought. Incidentally, I never intended to get this old.
Q: You’ve been with Doris for 67 years and married for 64. Your love secret?
Hans Erni: Doris and I played volleyball together when we were very young. What started out as happiness, sympathy and erotic playfulness developed into a wonderful life together. We built up our love slowly. From day one, we grew with and for each other.
Q: When do you argue?
Hans Erni: Never. At most, we have disagreements when our views differ. We rub up against each other to find the best solution to a problem.
Q: What is your motto in life?
Hans Erni: Anyone who doesn’t look for the negative is doing well for themselves. Life is about showing the positive qualities in both the good and the bad. That way, the good always wins in the end.
Q: You lived through two world wars. How do you preserve the good?
Hans Erni: The wars gave me the awareness to commit myself even more to peace and, if at all, to only wage war with my mouth.
Q: Is there anything that was better 90 years ago than today?
Hans Erni: The First World War was at the beginning of my life. My parents had to get eight children through it and look after them so that they came out of it reasonably normal. That certainly wasn’t easy. But eight children are also an advantage. You can’t make one child your favorite, you can’t choose one over the others. That’s what the world is all about: that we are all one and on the same level.
Q: Do you often think about the past?
Hans Erni: If I do, then I only think about my family and how we lived back then. But I don’t often think about the past. At most with the great literary figures like Socrates, who was phenomenal at revealing his personality completely and showing that no human being can live alone. We come naked and leave naked. In the meantime, we have to cope in the company of other people with our clothes on.
Q: What do you regret in life?
Hans Erni: Nothing. I find it pointless and logically worthless to worry about it. Everything that happens is part of building a life. For example, I have a lot of metal in my body. Should I regret that I used to play field hockey, ski jumping and athletics? If I regretted it, I wouldn’t give my existence any value.
Q: You are a painter, graphic artist and sculptor. What makes your heart beat faster?
Hans Erni: When I see Michelangelo’s David in Florence, it is a miracle of his presence.The greatest impressions in this world are made by artists. What doesn’t change as a person grows? The art! Once you have enjoyed a work of art, you always like it because you have brought it to life for yourself. When I draw a mother and child who both appear happy, it leaves this feeling not only in me, but also in other viewers.
Q: What happens after life?
Hans Erni: I don’t worry about that, I don’t care, I don’t imagine anything. We live to the end and then a new life begins. That’s nature. There’s no need to make a fuss.
Q: Your birthday wishes?
Hans Erni: A continuation of my life together with my wife, to be able to continue working and new teeth (smiles).
Q: What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever experienced?
Hans Erni: I hope I still have that ahead of me.

In a world of news dominated by weird weirdos, I’m of the opinion we’d all do well to be inspired by Hans Erni.

3-minute video of Hans Erni’s peace wall in Geneva
Hans Erni as per Wikipedia

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