Freedom from Death

When you make it to your 70s, and even earlier for some, you begin to see death as real and much more likely, even conceivably in the short term, than when you were younger and death was mere abstraction. 

This realization brings with it a kind of acceptance — that your time now is indeed limited and no matter what you do, your death is unavoidable. This realization, oddly enough, introduces a strange kind of fatalism that frees one from being too concerned with death. 

And that fatalism gives one a new kind of liberation from the fear of death when you completely accept the fact that you will indeed die and perhaps sooner rather than later.

Quinoa and Buckwheat

Divergent Attitudes Toward Death

“Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”  Dylan Thomas

“Just as if a god told you that you would die tomorrow or at least the day after tomorrow, you would attach no importance to the difference of one day, unless you are a complete coward (such is the tiny gap of time); so you should think there no great difference between life to the umpteenth year and life to tomorrow.”  Marcus Aurelius

“You are a little soul carrying a corpse.”  Epictetus

Do Not Go Gentle…

Seneca

Once Again

All the cries and despairs,
All the wounds and daily cares,
All the anxieties and their scares…
Now, just fallen leaves, dead leaves,
Once again.

All the dreams and their joys,
All the schemes and sly ploys,
All the hopes and attaboys…
Now, just fallen leaves, dead leaves,
Once again.

But then another spring comes around
So lush, new-born leaves abound,
Once again.

All Poetry — Just Fallen Leaves

My Story