Thinking about Death

Few words and few concepts can convey such strong feelings in people, such as death. Most people prefer not to think about it, almost pretend like it doesn't exist, taking this unbeatable force to appear in our lives as an unnatural, horrible happening. Whomever wonders about death more than the strictly prefuncionary two minutes during a seldom funeral (and those thoughts must be carefully gathered always around the thought of our own lives, our deeds and how we're going to lead a better, healthier, more pious life), is labeled as morbid. I am a morbid person, then.

As living beings, we experience death from outside, often pairing the feeling of dying with the suffering and pain we know from previous illnesses or harm. Thus we picture death as an extended, never ending pit of pain and suffering where no release is experienced. And indeed, for the living, those of us who are left behind, death brings quite a deal of suffering that lingers and stays with us long past death itself. Death brings thus the pain of loss for something or someone who can't be brought back. Be it the death of a loved one - family, friend, significant other, pet - to the death falling upon our crops, our stock, an admired teacher or a leader, the shadow of death stretches long and painful, drawing a dreadful path of hopelessness.

How can I go on without my true love? How can I ever love again that hard and that deep? What will I do without my mom or my dad? Who willl comfort me and give me those good advises I need from time to time? What will I do without my sibling? Who will be that perfect accomplice and partner in crime now? How can I go on without my pet? Who's happy barking and frenetic tail wagging, or hungry, demanding meowing and sucking-up rubbing and purring will make my day?

Let's face it, no one is replaceable. Even if you had 100 siblings, the death of one of them can beat you to pieces. They are unique. And for those who have pets, even if you had 10 dogs in your life, or 30 cats, could you say that one came to replace another? Never. You remember them all, their kirks and crazy little things.

But death is definitive, unbeatable, and above any tricking or outsmarting. Face it, you can't cheat death. Try as you may to prolongue your youth, or be more beautiful, live healthier, we are all going to end up ceasing to breath. Death is natural - no matter how it comes - it is part of life and part of nature. This doesn't mean we shouldn't suffer, or that the pain we feel after the departure of a loved one or lose hope when a guide or a crop dies is regretable and pety, but it does mean that death should be embraced, accepted and dealt with properly.

It is often said that death means change. Religiously, spiritually, many of us accept that death isn't other thing than the passing of the soul/spirit from one state to the next, thus death becomes the "back cover" of birth. Thinking of it in a primitive way, the human who has walked on the surface of Earth, re enters the womb of the Great Mother (Mother Earth) only to come out from the womb of another mother... say in case you believe in reincarnation. However, as the ones experiencing death from outside - meaning, being the ones who don't die, but are left behind by the one who did - death is also a time of change.

As a loved one departs a big change enters our life. With the passing away of a parent or a guide, we must gather all the lessons we've learned from them, and learn to walk our path without their support. We must learn to find it in ourselves to tap the wisdom they showered on us, and open the source of wisdom inside us, become confident in our own capabilities. With the passing away of a partner, the olve of our life, we must find it in ourselves to love others, love ourself and give to the planet what has been so kindly given to us. The loss can feel unfair, but if we accept death in our lives, shouldn't we be able to grieve properly and then take the beautiful lessons of the life that transcended and spread them in the world?

I think a lot about what would be when my folks pass away, if my brother passes away before me, if my boyfriend passes away, my friends, and I have spent a lot of time thinking about my own death. Aside from envisioning and wishing for the best possible death (so far my favorite is heart attack, so I hope that's what takes me when the time comes). Have often thought about my will, and have been trying to imagine a way to tell those I'd leave behind not to be sad.

Death, we want to grasp it, understand it, see into it, so maybe we won't fear it anymore, but would that be wise? If we lo longer fear death, would be life a fuller life, or would we rush into suicides, since death is no longer a dark, terrible thing? Would wars matter? Would death threats be effective?

From the heights of pseudp-philosophy, I turn back to the old wisdom of the lands, and think that death is not only natural, but necesary. It is the death and the burried what turns our lands fertile and allow the crops to grow. It is death what keeps population alive, as it makes space for the new generations, but it also gives space for development, evolution and revolution. As old ideas prepare the land for the new ones, it is in the path of the old lives that the new ones spring, and from the old lessons, that new experiments dare to conquer the fears of the past.

Would you dare to think a bit more about death?