Photo: Alex Grey. Photo Source: http://www.motley-focus.com/death.jpg
Dancing With Death:
I was in the presences of a family member as I was slipping in and out of consciousness. My uncle stood beside me and said, “Don’t worry, you’ll be alright, you’re in good hands.” It was nice to be comforted by a familiar face as I accepted Death’s hand as an invitation to dance – maybe my final death that I would partake in. My body began feeling light in weight. I was cold, shivering, and in extreme pain all throughout my body. I started to become weak, and the cold feeling of ice circulated through my veins throughout my entire body. I wasn’t scared though. A nurse that was taking my vital signs and conducting a sonogram on my abdomen told me that I had massive internal bleeding and that was the reason why I felt so much pain in my stomach and probably felt nauseous.
As the seconds ticked by, slowly, yet so fast, so did my life. I felt my consciousness expand and I began exploring the universe within myself. As the emergency room expanded and became bigger, the smaller I began to feel. No one around me could help me, and at that moment I knew I had to let go of everything. I had to be brave and accept Death’s invitation alone – the party was for me only… As for you will have your own celebration at your own special time.
We Live To Die:
We live our lives to die. In the Western culture it seems to be the opposite – we fear death and would do anything to protect ourselves from it. Death is the ultimate end that must be prevented so that life can continue. We fear death so much that we are afraid to speak of it or think about it, and we are afraid to properly mourn those who have passed out. We have created technologies to help with the evolution of our species, but also to help protect ourselves from the unknown realms of death — yet, we kill ourselves by working to sustain these technologies. It is an utter paradox. This is also out of balance. Life should be cherished and celebrated rather than wishing for or looking for an exit sign! My heart aches because humanity is enslaved by this fear and is afraid to build a relationship with death. Sad to say, but we will all experience Death’s dance at one point in our lives, so instead of dreading its arrival, why not prepare for it? Fancy yourself in the most beautiful attire and show death how magnificent your life has been!
Cards of Experience:
What if you’re one of those people who got dealt a not-so-great hand of cards? You can either play the cards how they are, or you can bluff your opponent about how amazing they are. Life doesn’t deal a perfect hand to anyone, unfortunately. No one gets through life as easy as some make it out to be. Life is about how making the best hand out of what one has, and celebrating the victory of bluffing the serious opponents that you encounter every day. This doesn’t mean that you should bluff or lie your way through life, rather it is saying the opposite – work with the cards that you were dealt and find the worth or value of each card. Just because the 1 and 2 cards are usually low cards, it doesn’t mean that they don’t have any value.
Take the 1 or 2 card and add an experience you had in life that made you grow into the person you are today. Would you fold your hand and take those experiences away for higher card with a bought experience and materialistic value? In a materialistic culture you want all the top cards you can get. You want the experiences you can pay for by trying to buy your happiness. Think about when Death asks you to dance and tells you that you can only enter with a few cards. Which memories or experiences will you hold tight to and which ones are you willing to part with or throw away?
Life As A Plant:
I end this rant with a metaphor that Life and death is a flower. A seed buried within the womb of Mother Earth begins to sprout. This seed spends its whole life as a plant trying to flower and fruit. Once it does flower or fruit, the plant goes to seed and begins to die – spreading its seeds to give birth to a newer generation. Just before the plant dies, it spends most of its energy trying to fruit and flower. Once it does, it is a celebration for its own life. It shares its beauty and sweet nectar’s with the world around, giving back to its community or ecosystem at large. The world around becomes drunk off the beauty and sweetness of its nectar.
How Have You Lived Your Life?
If we live our lives as if we are preparing to die, how would you give something back to the world? Have you spent your life trying to flower or fruit, or did you waste your life thinking about all the possibilities – missing your chance to blossom? What has been holding you back that makes you feel hopeless — not being able to fruit? How are you going to spread your seeds?
Western culture needs to become more conscious about how we live our lives and think about our relationship with death. We are at the crossroads or roadblock – not being sure what to believe in when it comes to life and death. To be able to know life, one must take the invitation to dance with Death just once. One must be willing to wrestle Death and show Death that you have a life worth living.