Yep, I’m going to rant about death now. Humanity seems to have quite the obsession with death. It always has and I suppose it always will. The finality and certainty of its occurrence coupled with the uncertainty of its outcome has lead quite a few to obsess over it, develop their own theories, and almost always fear it. My opinion of death is a simple one, I don’t care for it. I try to not concern myself too much with death for the simple fact that I know it will come eventually, I will not be ready, it will not be fair, but it will happen all the same. In short, although we should prepare for our deaths (wills, no-resuscitation permission, etc…) death should be dealt with when it comes.
My mother taught me a very important lesson about mortality when I was about seven years old. One of our dogs had just recently had puppies. One of the puppies had a larger head and smaller body than the rest and just generally didn’t act the same as the others. It died after being alive for only three days. I was a curious child and I wanted to know. So I asked my mother “Why did that puppy die?” She told me that she had seen the same thing before (she worked at an animal care clinic as a veterinary technician), the puppy had water on the brain.” I knew that couldn’t be too good and I accepted this as a reason for the puppy’s death. A few days later another puppy died, but this one had appeared to be perfectly healthy before. When I asked about this one my mother simply said “Sometimes… puppies just die.” This one phrase pretty much sums up my view on death. I learned in that instance that death can come at any time, to anyone, it is never fair, and rarely makes sense, and you will never be ready for it. I credit this conversation with my being able to handle my own mother’s death when I was nineteen. I cried, I was very upset, but I got to the point to where I could function again very quickly. I did not dwell on her death or ask questions like “why her?” because I already knew that there are no answers.
I honestly believe that excessive mourning is selfish. We mourn because we will no longer enjoy the person’s presence. We do not mourn what they lost, but rather what we lost. Soon after a death, this is expected. It is important to have a small degree of selfishness in order to survive. However, one day, we will be visited by death, and it is best not to spend our time suffering over the inevitable. In short, focus on life, not death. Don’t focus on your own death, or the deaths of those around you. Focus on your life, the lives of those around you, and the lives of those we’ve lost. Life is what is important, death is only a small part of it.
I will end this post with one of my own quotes:
“Fear not death. Fear that you never truly lived.”
~Nathaniel
Also, in celebration of our mortality, and in memory of my departed mother, I am now selling Dead Puppies Merchandise.
