Death is not a word we embrace. I think we hate change and we hate the loss of control and emotions that death provides us. It is hard enough to deal with it when it is someone you love or know but when it is you-how that must rock your soul. In looking at Michael Jackson and Farah’s death, I think people are sad because these are people who are suppose to live on glamorous and beautiful in our collective memory. They are not supposed to die tragic and suffering. They are our Elvis and Marylyn-crazy/beautiful. Moreover, we are reminded of our limitness on the earth and quickly it slips away.
Hollywood is reality on steroids. When you look at all these people getting Botox and plastic surgery and judge I think it is self-righteous. We all think we are going to live forever and we hate to admit we are going to die and the world will keep turning. I have held onto many relics of my life-emotional and psychical rather than admit the time has come and gone.
I am not sure if this should make you sad. I think no matter what you believe-surely you can see death is natural. These are no fountain of youth and it is the one experience we are guaranteed to share. We spend our humanity trying not to be human , perhaps, and death is always there to remind us what we really are .
I am very aware of my own mortality. In part, that is what motivates me, knowing that if I put it off until tomorrow that I may never get to do whatever it was. Tomorrows aren't promised to us after all. Every time I am trying to fight off a cold, I think, "If I fall victim to this, imagine what dengue fever or a bad staph infection could do to me." The fragility of life is one of the things that makes it so beautiful, though. A car accident, a slip in the tub, a shark . . . there are a million ways to go. I'm very comfortable with the idea of dying, maybe more comfortable with death than growing old and not being able to do things, finding myself limited. I'm a health nut, running marathons now, don't touch processed food, a real wacko . . . but not to delay or deny death, but just to try as best as I can to maintain as high a quality of life while I have one.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. I think death is very scary to most of us because we keep putting our life off. We think one day we will really live but the time to live is now. Kudos for seizing the moment.
ReplyDelete