intermission
Not many entries lately, though I had a desk and computer all to myself at work this week. Unfortunately, the desk was vacated because someone at work lost his mum to cancer, and he was taking a week off following her death. We did our best as a group to offer support and condolences (there are only 6 of us who regularly work in the office, including me), but other than that, it was work as usual for everyone.
I don't mean to sound overly cerebral when I say this, but I've always been surprised at how rarely people seem to acknowledge that they're mortal, or even bother to really think about their mortality. You could see how confused people were at work when having to think of words of support. Even then, when the fact that someone had really died was inescapable, I don't think many of us from work sat down and had a think about what had actually happened. It seemed that the general consensus was to let Matt know that he had our support, to give him room to grieve, and in the meantime, the rest of us acknowledged an unfortunate fact of life and moved on. Is this really how death should be looked at and how life should be lived? I get the feeling that by sweeping death under the carpet, we're sweeping our ability to really live under the carpet as well.
Though I'd be confused if what I'm about to say is unusual, I've seen little evidence to suggest otherwise. Without doubt, the scariest things that I've ever been through have been contemplating the reality of death. "The fear of death" is almost a catch-phrase, yet I've never rarely seen anyone that I've come into contact with show any hint of understanding why such a fear should exist. I get the feeling that people in general rarely, if ever, really contemplate the reality of having to face death one day.
The first time I really contemplated having to die some day was when I was around nine years old. I remember that I was in my parents room at my grandma's place, reading a book about ancient Romans, and I started thinking about where I was and what I was thinking when the ancient Romans were around. Well, as you could probably imagine, I did not recall very much. Thinking about the time before my birth naturally led to thinking about the time after my death, and an infinity of what I see myself to be being gone. This scared the hell out of me. I remember going to school the next day, and wondering why everyone was so concerned about petty little things.
I'm not trying to make the point that people should live with a fear of dying, this would not be a good thing, and I'm sure that many people overcome or even bypass this fear through religious faith or self realization. I do, however, think it would be of benefit if people on the whole lived life with their mortality more firmly on their minds.
I don't mean to sound overly cerebral when I say this, but I've always been surprised at how rarely people seem to acknowledge that they're mortal, or even bother to really think about their mortality. You could see how confused people were at work when having to think of words of support. Even then, when the fact that someone had really died was inescapable, I don't think many of us from work sat down and had a think about what had actually happened. It seemed that the general consensus was to let Matt know that he had our support, to give him room to grieve, and in the meantime, the rest of us acknowledged an unfortunate fact of life and moved on. Is this really how death should be looked at and how life should be lived? I get the feeling that by sweeping death under the carpet, we're sweeping our ability to really live under the carpet as well.
Though I'd be confused if what I'm about to say is unusual, I've seen little evidence to suggest otherwise. Without doubt, the scariest things that I've ever been through have been contemplating the reality of death. "The fear of death" is almost a catch-phrase, yet I've never rarely seen anyone that I've come into contact with show any hint of understanding why such a fear should exist. I get the feeling that people in general rarely, if ever, really contemplate the reality of having to face death one day.
The first time I really contemplated having to die some day was when I was around nine years old. I remember that I was in my parents room at my grandma's place, reading a book about ancient Romans, and I started thinking about where I was and what I was thinking when the ancient Romans were around. Well, as you could probably imagine, I did not recall very much. Thinking about the time before my birth naturally led to thinking about the time after my death, and an infinity of what I see myself to be being gone. This scared the hell out of me. I remember going to school the next day, and wondering why everyone was so concerned about petty little things.
I'm not trying to make the point that people should live with a fear of dying, this would not be a good thing, and I'm sure that many people overcome or even bypass this fear through religious faith or self realization. I do, however, think it would be of benefit if people on the whole lived life with their mortality more firmly on their minds.
posted by Gene at 11:27 am
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