Death

My friend and I had watched Donny Darko 2 days ago, and it was really messing with my head.  I think the thing that strikes closest to home is the fact that death sounds like such a lonely thing.  I think the thing that makes me the most afraid is being alone.  It’s such a dark concept.  And at least for me, that’s the thing that I associate with death.

But then I just finished Thrive, by Arianna Huffington.  She makes a few good points about the fact that Western society makes death such a taboo topic, and something we try to keep hush hush.  Which already makes the people who want to really talk about death, or understand death, feel a bit alienated. If you think about it, it’s the only thing that everyone, regardless of race, geography, or religion, experiences. It’s the one truly universal experience.  And she was talking about Greek culture, and how they view death as a wonderful thing, surrounded by the ones that they love.

I was thinking about it as we were living it up, dancing to our hearts content until 3:30 in the morning, celebrating my friend’s 30th birthday in Dublin yesterday.  It just felt so…fun.  Pure, unadulterated joy.  And I hadn’t felt so alive in such a long time.  It felt so good.

Which made me come to an epiphany.  If life is so wonderful and so joyous, I don’t believe that death, or what comes after, can be that bad.  Moreover, I refuse to believe that we are alone.  I don’t think we are ever really alone.  Given what I’ve experienced in life, and the wonderful network of people that surround you with love and support, I can’t believe that the next part of our soul’s journey is any different.  I refuse to believe that.  It just makes no sense to me.

Which means that I believe I am coming to terms with death.  I don’t want to ignore it, because it’s something that I feel is terrifying if you don’t face it head on. It’s something I’m embracing as the universal shared experience, which really, helps me live my life more fully- knowing that there’s something greater out there I can experience after this amazing thing called life is finished.