About This Blog
Initial Posting and Blog Intent
This blog begins with a personal confession: I often think about death. Now, before anyone considers this notion as odd or morbid, or jumps to the conclusion that one shouldn’t dwell or become obsessed with such a depressing topic, I’d ask that you first give me a chance to clarify and explain myself a bit.
There are a handful of things that I know for certain. And one of those certainties is that I will someday die. In fact, it is common knowledge to anyone reading this blog that they too will someday die. There is a direct, 1:1 correlation which is inescapable and undeniable: All who are born will someday physically perish. It does one well to often be reminded of this. Or as the Latin phrase suggests: Momento Mori, which means that we should remember that we are mortal and like all before us and after us, each of us will someday die. It is on that premise that this blog was started, how it was named and what its main focus will be.
If we were all completely honest with one another, we’d admit that there are certain experiences that we encounter throughout our everyday lives which cause us to ponder our mortality. Obituaries in newspapers, television broadcasts of murders and natural disasters, attending a funeral of a close friend, or observing our loved ones growing old and diseased are just a few things which remind us day after day that our turn is coming sooner or later. And therefore, deep down inside, we all know too well that it is not a matter of IF we will die, but moreso a matter of WHEN and HOW which are the only unknowns.
Ancient and medieval cultures of the past faced death on a daily, ongoing basis. They were present when family members were dying from wars, plagues and pestilence. They personally witnessed casualties and public executions. Many children didn’t ever make it to adulthood and the life-expectancy of most people was less than 40 years old. These things were just a natural part of their everyday lives. There was no need to reiterate the notion of Momento Morias a reminder to these people of the past that they too will someday die. Death surrounded them and dying was inevitable. They all knew it and faced it as a reality and basic fact of life.
Our current culture mindset, in a stark contrast to the past, rarely considers the notion of death. With our busyness, cozy surroundings and prosperous living conditions, most of us are often shielded and far-removed from such thoughts. After all, who has time to think about such a downer like death? We’re having way too much fun and feeling so good that dying is the the furthest thing from our minds. Why concern ourselves with something that will not happen for a long time? After all, isn’t death something that only the elderly need to worry about? We’d all like to believe that we have plenty of time to work out the unpleasant details as they pertain to our eventual demise… but do we really?
Now, I fully realize and am well aware of the fact that death and its many ramifications is an uncomfortable and unpopular subject for most people to think about. And due to this extreme unease and discomfort, there are many who would rather stick their heads in the sand in some sort of ostrich-like posture of denial thinking that they will somehow outsmart death when it comes knocking. And then there are others who make determined efforts to “monkey around” the topic altogether by seeing no death, hearing no death and speaking of no death whatsoever hoping that the whole depressing topic would just disappear altogether. Then there are others that couldn’t care less about the notion of dying. “Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow I die and become wormfood” is their rally cry. I call these people ”bigfoot-unicorns” because I’ve never met one but have heard about so-called sightings of a few.
So, if you relate to one of the kind of people mentioned above in regards to your view on death, I welcome you to this blog. Please continue to regularly check-in by reading and possibly considering some of my random thoughts on the issue and feel free to offer your comments to the forum. Who knows, maybe some of your uncomfortableness about the topic of death will decrease over time?
And if you are the type of person like myself, who often thinks about death, the afterlife, and eternal matters, and are at peace with the idea of dying, it is my hope that you will benefit from some of the items which I have in store for future postings. And lastly, I would hope that we all would continue to think not only about the notion of dying but that some of these postings would lead each of us to ponder the truly important things in life that really matter and as a result, live our lives accordingly.
Until then, Momento Mori.
