Death is an intrinsic part of life.
Facing and accepting our mortality helps us become fully human.
I have found it keeps me grounded:
living attentively in the present moment;
daily acknowledging what is important;
developing an attitude of gratefulness;
becoming detached from possessions and concepts which bind;
focusing on relationships;
practicing empathy and compassion;
freeing me to live mindfully.
Often this seems counter-cultural in a world
determined to stay young;
where youth is lauded and age is hidden away in care facilities;
where funerals are a commercial enterprise,
preying on the fears of those afraid to confront death;
where hair dyes and night creams are sandbags at the threshold of old age.
Lives are treated as a commodity -
collateral damage in war zones and environmental disasters;
slaves and child labourers to satisfy the greed of others;
guinea pigs in the pharmaceutical industry;
As I create the members of the extended Brennan clan,
death was an inevitable guest.
Old age, sickness and epidemic, childbirth,
maltreatment, suicide, accident, war.
Family members reacted in different ways.
Some chose flight -
they ran from memories and grief.
Some started afresh -
new location, new jobs, new partners.
Some let questions and anger overwhelm them
and stunt their own growth as human beings.
How do I react when I meet death face-to-face?
Am I open to the healing of tears and grief,
or do I want to numb the pain of loss?
Do I have a grateful heart and outlook?
Do I let the dead overshadow the lives of the living -
or do I invite them to enable and empower the living through their stories?
Facing and accepting our mortality helps us become fully human.
I have found it keeps me grounded:
living attentively in the present moment;
daily acknowledging what is important;
developing an attitude of gratefulness;
becoming detached from possessions and concepts which bind;
focusing on relationships;
practicing empathy and compassion;
freeing me to live mindfully.
Often this seems counter-cultural in a world
determined to stay young;
where youth is lauded and age is hidden away in care facilities;
where funerals are a commercial enterprise,
preying on the fears of those afraid to confront death;
where hair dyes and night creams are sandbags at the threshold of old age.
Lives are treated as a commodity -
collateral damage in war zones and environmental disasters;
slaves and child labourers to satisfy the greed of others;
guinea pigs in the pharmaceutical industry;
As I create the members of the extended Brennan clan,
death was an inevitable guest.
Old age, sickness and epidemic, childbirth,
maltreatment, suicide, accident, war.
Family members reacted in different ways.
Some chose flight -
they ran from memories and grief.
Some started afresh -
new location, new jobs, new partners.
Some let questions and anger overwhelm them
and stunt their own growth as human beings.
How do I react when I meet death face-to-face?
Am I open to the healing of tears and grief,
or do I want to numb the pain of loss?
Do I have a grateful heart and outlook?
Do I let the dead overshadow the lives of the living -
or do I invite them to enable and empower the living through their stories?