Death

Am I obsessed or preoccupied with death? Yes, one could say that. I am interested in anything taboo and death still is taboo. Not many people like to talk about it; it is not something you bring up in polite conversation. It makes people uncomfortable. Yet, everyone dies, everyone has known or will know someone who is dead. There is no escaping death. Not yet anyways. (Although I do hope that one day science will remedy this.) Death is very tragic, and perhaps the most tragic things about it--is that the world goes on after you die. And, unless you are remembered by the living, the memory of you will fade away and it will be as if you never existed.

Many people hope for an afterlife, in fact the plan on it. All too often letting life pass them by thinking naively that they can make it up in the next life. This is not a conscious decision, but takes place in the unconscious mind. I believe one of the main reasons people adopt a religion is out of fear of death, a deep desire to believe that life doesn’t end, and to be comforted in their losses. In a way, I feel a slight tinge of jealously of those who can so readily believe in an afterlife, as I am afforded no such luxury. My eyes have been open and they cannot be shut.

People take life for granted because they do not believe in death; they like to believe that when they die, they aren’t really dead. To deny that death is final is to cheat yourself. You cheat yourself out of really getting to say your final goodbyes to your loved ones because you believe you’ll see them again. You cheat yourself out of truly being able to grieve the loss of someone you care about. Most of all, you cheat yourself out of life. The most important thing death teaches us is that we must truly appreciate and savior life. Coming to terms with the gravity of death is one of the most sobering things there is. When you realize that your life is short, that you do not have all the time in the world; you go out and enjoy life as much as you possibly can.

Knowing that everything is fleeting deepens my joy that I take in living and gives me perspective. That awareness that you do not have all eternity, that you can not just drift along waiting for your real life to begin at some point in the future. We must acknowledge that this is it, this is not a rehearsal but the big concert; not the practice but the game itself.