So Long Farewell

Death, dying and grief are interesting topics. Not necessarily topics most folks want to spend a lot of time thinking or talking about, but they are a vital part of living even if they are perceived as more of an ending.

For some reason they have been top of the mind awareness for me the past few weeks. It started with a course I took from the DeMartini Institute on grief and fear of death the middle of November.  It was a great discussion and deep dive into fears and beliefs. The premise of grief/death from a “DeMartini perspective” is that we do not really need to grieve for long periods of time because nothing ever goes away, it just changes form. The key is to identify the new form(s) and embrace the change.  This belief goes back to the writings or musings of Plato but let us not get too bogged down in that, because it was really Socrates commenting on Plato and that always gets messy.

So, whilst digesting this information, I continued my reading in the Bahagavad Gita. In a moment of synchronicity, the section I am enjoying is on death and what happens to the soul as it leaves the body it has inhabited and travels onward. Now opinions vary (widely one could say) on what folks believe happens after we leave this mortal coil, but it has been fascinating to me to see the congruity of beliefs, ideas, fears and concerns from something written millennia ago and our current habits.

One of my favorite quotes has always been, “No one gets out alive,” and yet the fear of no longer being here is crippling to many as well as the fear of losing those they love. Loss is a daily occurrence from which there is no escape, so finding ways to mitigate the sadness or emptiness of it is a topic that fascinates and engages me.

Since childhood I have enjoyed a good obituary and have written a few excellent ones myself. I believe all lives should be celebrated and remembered. While the physical may be gone, the energy of a life lived remains and, for me, brings joy with each memory. Of course, there are those that might not have left behind a treasure trove of happy remembrance, but there is something to be said for just being.

I have no idea why this is occurring right now in my life, but the timing for this blog is also synchronistic. It is two years ago today that my darling husband headed off to his next adventures and I know for him they are magical.