How often do you think about death?

[Evoman]

I think death is an interesting topic to discuss among the diverse group of people here in this forum. I find myself often thinking about dying...mostly when I'm laying in bed at night, when everyone else is sleeping. Its hard to imagine, isn't it? Part of me, in the everyday happenings of my life, thinks that I'm going to live forever. But theres a part of me, and it usually comes awake at night, that is strangely curious about death.

And the strangest thing happens when I do think about death. You would think that I might be afraid or that I may be upset about someday I'm going to be dead (especially since I'm an atheist and have nothing to look forward to except eternal nothingness...or burning in hell if the christians are right lol). But I actually get relieved. Because, to some extent, I find comfort in the fact that none of this really matters. I try my best to live a good life, to let others live a good life, and to enjoy my life as much as possible. But really, nothing that I do matters in the long run....within 100 years, few people will remember me. Within 1000 years, I will be nothing but a name. Everybody who ever bullied me, who ever loved me...will also be dead. It may sound fucked up, but that gives me comfort....I may live or die, but the worlds gonna just keep going. Within a million years, human beings may not even be here. There may be no sentient animals...or there may be new sentient animals. All our societies..all our wars...all our religions even....mean nothing on that time scale. We are just tiny people with no big impact on the galaxy. Its almost a strange type of freedom....(and just in case somebody thinks so, I am not depressed or suicidal lol)

So I want to know...what do you all think when you think about death. Do you fear it? Do you look forward to it? Are you like me, strangely comforted but not looking forward to it? If your theist...are you scared of death? Are you so 100 percent sure that Jesus exists that your fine with dying? If your atheist....do you fear death?

I want to see everyone here thinks about death, or even if you actually think about it at all.

[niyad]

1. don't worry about it at all--it's only a doorway.

[Silent3]

67. A nice, comforting thought...

...with nothing more than wishful thinking to back it up.

[Nihil]

68. As stated, it was perfectly true - no wishful thinking at all.

Death is a transition from being in the state normally regarded
as "alive" to the state normally regarded as "dead" so the
"door" synonym for the step is perfectly factual.

The wishful thinking comes in when people start to guess at
the nature of the "dead" side of the transition.

We are all in a position of first-person ignorance on that
matter though most (if not all) have had third-person experience
of observing the change "from the outside". As a result, all of
the various forms of 'wishful thinking' are projected from a point
of first-person ignorance whether they are of the form of a
"caterpillar vs butterfly" optimism or a "switched off light bulb"
pessimism.

[Xipe Totec]

2. Artifex vitae artifex sui

As my dusk approaches, I bless thee, Life,
for you never gave me failed hope,
or unjust work, or undeserved punishment;
for I see at the end of my rugged journey
that I was the architect of my destiny;
if I drew the sweetness or aloes from things,
it was because I put into them bitter bile,
or sweet honey: when I planted rose bushes,
I always harvested roses.

True, to my youth Winter will come:
But you never promised me that May would be eternal!
No doubt I found my nights of sorrow to be long;
but you never promised me only good nights;
and yet I had some that were blessedly serene...
I loved, and I was loved, the sun stroked my face.
Life, you owe me nothing! Life, we are at peace!

- Amado Nervo

Yes, I think of it often; I come from a long line of short clockers.

[yorkiemommie1]

10. thank you for posting this poem

edit to say: i do think about it, esp. as i get older. i am not afraid of being dead, but of dying.

[Xipe Totec]

19. I am more afraid of cowardice, than I am of death

Like you, dying rather than death, is my fear.

I do not want to linger at the threshold; I want to race through the doorway when my time comes, before I lose my nerve and shame myself.

[Goblinmonger]

54. Reminds me of an e. e. cummings poem

dying is fine)but Death

?o
baby
i

wouldn't like

Death if Death
were
good:for

when(instead of stopping to think)you

begin to feel of it,dying
's miraculous
why?be

cause dying is

perfectly natural; perfectly
putting
it mildly lively(but

Death

is strictly
scientific
& artificial &

evil & legal)

we thank thee
god
almighty for dying
(forgive us,o life! the sin of Death

[Xipe Totec]

57. Unique

!Thank


you)

[OffWithTheirHeads]

36. Wow!

I'm not a poetry fan but that is wonderful!

[Call me Deacon Blues]

3. I was raised a Baptist, but am mostly a Buddhist these days

married to a Catholic. Having said all that, yeah, I think about the Great Dark, like you, mostly as I drift off to sleep. I'm a bit too spent by the day to offer any philosophy, but I would say that I think that (obviously) the older you get, the more you think about it. I believe it hit me the day I turned 50, and realized there were more years behind me than in front of me. It's not infinity -- it's "finity", if you get my drift.

[DanCa]

4. I have young onset parkinsons

I think about death all the time. Hell I can walk fall down and break my neck in any instant.
The real sad part right wing fundies dont want me in their church to pray and some on the left laugh at me for praying at home, in private. Welcome to America in the 2000s

[BanzaiBonnie]

16. Why would anyone laugh at you for praying?

I'm sorry anyone has done that. That's unkind and reflects badly on them, not you.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

35. I totally agree

If praying, or finding solice in the concept of a higher power helps you through the day, good for you and fuck anyone who feels otherwise. Personally, I am an athiest but I don't pretend for a minute that I have the answers. As I often tell people, "If you see pink Elephants dripping down the walls, that's your reality. Who am I to argue? Just because I don't see them doesn't make my version of reality correct!"

Bud

[Nihil]

61. Take heart DanCa ...

> The real sad part right wing fundies dont want me in their church to
> pray and some on the left laugh at me for praying at home, in private.

... people were the same 2000 years ago ...

Matthew ch6 v5-6:

006:005 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites
are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in
the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men.
Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

006:006 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when
thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in
secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee
openly.

Be at peace with yourself and the world will be at peace with you.

[Blue_In_AK]

5. I'm not afraid of dying...

It's just the natural order of things. As for what comes afterwards, I really don't know, but I've tried to live a good life and not hurt anyone so if there is some kind of judgment afterwards, I'll be ready, and if not, nothing's lost.

[Canuckistanian]

6. What is this "death", of which you speak?

Please elucidate.

[Evoman]

42. Hehe...smartass. nt

[Canuckistanian]

52. ..

:D

[DS1]

7. 3 or 10 times a day

[Poll_Blind]

21. About the same, here. n/t

PB

[bertha katzenengel]

8. constantly

atheist
i don't want to miss anyone
don't judge me on this contradiction

life is eternal
and love is immortal
and death is only a horizon

[WestHoustonDem]

9. My dad has been in the hospital or a nursing home all year and

I just arrived home after a 10 day visit. Yeah, I think about death, but not my own. I watch him suffer and I watch my mom suffering for him. I wonder if he'll ever get better. I wonder if he'll ever see his home again. I wonder if he'll be at my daughter's graduation in 2007. I wonder if he'd rather die now, than suffer what is in the future for him.

Sorry to be so morbid, but it's been a tough few weeks.

[Mnemosyne]

25. I hope your dad will be alright WHD and recover quickly.

:hug:

I'll answer the OP tomorrow Evoman. Very good thread.

[WestHoustonDem]

49. Thanks vickiss

:hug:

[Mnemosyne]

59. You are stronger than you ever think I've found.

Times like these sure make you remember to treasure each moment. I do.

Hope all are holding up alright. :hug:

[WestHoustonDem]

66. I'm doing okay. I have great support from friends - many of

whom are DUers.

[Mnemosyne]

69. Friends are the family we get to choose.

I'm glad you have good people around. Please let us know how your Dad progresses.:hi:

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

30. Sorry for you, WestHoustonDem

Both my folks are gone now. Dad went almost instantly but Mom suffered terribly for months. It makes you feel so helpless, I know. It's very tough. Sending you my best thoughts and hopes that you can stay strong.

[WestHoustonDem]

50. Thanks SWMBO!

I realize I'm lucky to have my parents for so long. Life isn't easy. :hug:

[Evoman]

43. Thats tough

This is a morbid thread, I guess...be as morbid as you need to be. Thats the funny thing (not in a haha way)...eventually, everyone goes through what your going and some already have. Its strange that the only thing that unites everybody is the one thing that eventually separates us.

I offer my condolensces for what your going through and I wish you good luck.

Evoman

[WestHoustonDem]

51. Thanks Evoman.

:hug:

[Goblinmonger]

55. I'm sorry

My dad died in a nursing home last February. He did not suffer. He had a cold (they think now probably pneumonia). The nurse went in to give him a nebulizer and he was dead. Though he didn't suffer, it was a HUGE shock for the family because we really didn't see it coming.

Know that my thoughts are with you and there are people you can turn to here if you need an ear.

[WestHoustonDem]

64. Thanks Goblin - DU has been great through all of this

it's my 2nd family. :grouphug:

[Nihil]

62. Take care of yourself WHD.

I can empathise with this having gone through my own father's
final months many years ago - spine slowly crumbling, causing
pain and gradual disability and eventually allowing his old
enemies (emphysema (sp?) and bronchitis) to take their toll.

He never made it to my own graduation, nor did he see my son's
birth (though he knew that both were on their way) but "he" was
present at both events by proxy - not only in the memory of those
who he'd supported over the years but by means of various personal
items (e.g., one of his ties worn for my graduation photos).

I'm now having to see a similar slow process with my mother
(thanks to Alzheimer's) but at least I have the strength built
up by the earlier events to use now.

Take care of yourself, keep a good eye on *your* health at this
time and simply do your best for those around you.

:hug:

[WestHoustonDem]

65. Thanks Nihil. Today was better for him

but I worry about tomorrow. He seems to alternate between good and bad days. And how tough is it when a good day means you get out of bed and sit in a wheelchair, and a great day means you didn't need a catheter?

DU is my refuge because of people like you. :grouphug:

[NMMNG]

11. I do not fear death in any way

I merely accept the fact that it will eventually occur--that it is a fact of life. I do not believe in any form of afterlife, rebirth or other existence after death. I merely see death as an end to life.

There are times, those times when I am morbidly depressed, when I would welcome death with open arms. Fortunately those times are few and far between.

[Evoman]

44. Hey

If you ever feel depressed, just remember...you have your friends at DU to talk to. I may not be able to pray for you, but I'm a pretty farkin good listener.

Evoman

[NMMNG]

48. Please don't pray for me--that would only make things worse

Didn't you read the study? :rofl:

But thanks for the offer of support, it's greatly appreciated.:hug:

[nuxvomica]

12. I don't know what to make of it

Sometimes I think when I die, that'll be it. Other times, when I'm sentimental, I think of the people and animals I've lost and will meet on the other side. It's a comforting fantasy. Sometimes I think it's somewhere in between. Something I can't even grasp right now. A turn in the road as unpredictable as any I have experienced in life. As Forster said, "Death destroys a man but the idea of death can save him." All I can say for sure about death is that it's a good thing to think about every so often.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

15. Great post

All I can say for sure about death is that it's a good thing to think about every so often.

:thumbsup:

[nuxvomica]

31. Thanks, Ayesha

I find it interesting that you've chosen the name of an immortal. That is, unless it's a Rumpole reference. ;-)

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

34. Is it an immortal's name? I did not know that!

It is a Rumpole reference, and it applies only to The Magistrate - though I get a kick out the people here who take it personally, hee. How I came to use it is kind of a death-related story: Mag was hospitalized because of a heart attack (which scared us all almost to death), and once he was out of the woods he asked me to contact the admins and the mods, since he was modding that term. I lurked DU but hadn't signed up yet, so he suggested SWMBO.

If I'd been thinking clearly I would have chosen something shorter and faster to type. ;)

[nuxvomica]

38. Oh gosh, you should read "She" by H. Rider Haggard

I read it and the sequel when I was teen-ager. You can read it online here: http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/3155
The story's about Ayesha, an Egyptian priestess who achieves immortality and rules a secret African Kingdom, proclaiming that she rules through terror and not authority. Not an obsolete concept, I'm afraid. She is referred to by her subjects as She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed. That's probably where Mortimer got the epithet.

I remember the time you speak of and I'm glad you both got through it okay. :hi:

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

60. Very cool, many thanks!

An great-sounding book, and a book-laden site! I'll enjoy reading and browsing their selection - if I can get a look at it once The Magistrate finds out about it. We are doing well; thank you for your kind thoughts. :hi:

[Deja Q]

13. Several times per hour. Why do you ask?

Having a decaying corporeal form has that effect...

I think not of specifics; it is the undiscovered country. The unknown destination.

I can conjecture that due to episodes of precognition I know when my end is coming. I've also had "past life recollection" experiences, though that could be hallucination for all I know.

In the end, I do not care. It happens to everyone and we live in a two-faced, hypocritical world that doesn't seem to cherish life.

As was once said, "there is nobody as free as a dead man."


Of course, it is also possible that death is akin to total unconsciousness, albeit for a longer period of time.

I was uncounscious over 4 hours due to surgery.

In late 2004 I had a collapse; of which 3 hours of my life are nonexistent and the remainder of that day is spotty at best. I should not be afraid since I have experienced it before. Or why I should want to live before dying.

[kwassa]

14. I'm listening to the Mozart Requiem

Much of the finest classical vocal music is written about death; the Requiems, be it Mozart, Brahams, or Verdi.

some translated lyrics:

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
grant them rest.
May eternal light shine on them, O Lord.
with Thy saints for ever, because
Thou art merciful.

[beyurslf]

17. I don't think about it alot, but at times. It comes at strange times too--

driving on the highway or taking a shower or somethig obscure. My thoughts of death don't usually center around what will happen. It is more about what will the people in my life do. Being positive, I also think about who I will go before. Most of time I assume I will be the next person in my family to die. Sounds weird, but my parents are young (late 40s) and I don't have any grandparents left. So, I figure they have 30 years left and I probably don't. I also think about cures, and how most rely on preventing the spread and not curing those who have it. So we could beat it and then have to watch everyone infected die away before the disease is gone. Creepy, I know.

[meti57b]

18. death isn't a biggie, ... it's the idea of prolonged painful illness

and disability and the loss of independence that goes along with it, that is frightening.

I am of a faith that believes in G-d, but doesn't believe in heaven or hell.

[boobooday]

20. When I was a child, I imagined my illness/death quite often

And then I was diagnosed with type I diabetes at 14, and I went through this period of feeling ashamed that I had romanticized being sick. At nineteen, I got myself into trouble (ketoacidosis) and almost died in the emergency room. I heard the doctors say they were losing me. It wasn't scary at all. I felt totally free, totally accepting of it.

Then, I'm like out of my body and I see my dad on the other side of the curtain, and his face is completely grey.

And I realized that I could go either way at that point, and my Dad's face made me stay. I made a decision. I think it is the decision that most people make so long as their suffering isn't unbearable and they can physically continue to fight.

I'm not religious, or even that spiritual. That was my experience. There was no light, nothing other than the out-of-body sensation and the incredible feeling of calm. It changed me forever. There is nothing to fear about death, but everything to live for. That's what I learned.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

37. My ex-wife and a friend had "near death" experiences

No white light or such, although my ex said she was aware of telling her dead grandmother's spirit that she wasn't ready to go yet.

What struck me was that each told me they were no longer afraid of dying. I wish there was some way to get the same result without ending up in an emergency room along the way.

As for me, I'm caught between a rock and a hard place. I want to believe there's a heaven where my Mom, Dad, kid brother and others are now, and where my wife will go when she dies. At the same time I have this irrational knowledge that when I die I will go to Hell for some unspecified reason, and there isn't a damned thing I can do about it. Lord knows, I've tried. Intellectually I know it's crap; while I haven't lead an exemplary life I feel I've generally made a positive contribution to the world, and have loved and been loved in return. I have seen miracles happen in my life and that of others. I believe the beauty of the Universe -- and our ability to recognize this beauty -- bespeaks the presence of an unknown and unknowable process that my mind is insufficient to imagine. God is not just Creator, He's the Artist in Residence.

Yet there is this absolute certainty that when I die I should plan on taking lots of SPF 300 sunscreen. It really is a conundrum; I don't want there to be an afterlife for me, but I do want one for my loved ones. So until I get this mess resolved I have an incredible desire to put off my death as long as possible.

Of course, being bipolar may have something to do with my outlook. I've learned to judge where I am in the up and down cycle by the number of times I think about death each day. On a good day I want to live forever; a bad day is when I get stuck in ruminating "Well, at least I get to die..."

Even at my worst moments -- and there have been some real doozies -- I have never regretted being born, nor lost my appreciation for the wonder and beauty of this world and the Universe. When I remember to be grateful for all the people, experiences and things I have in my life right now -- like a roof over my head, food in the refrigerator and a wonderful wife -- I don't care what happens next.

[stillcool]

22. I fear life...more than death....

but, since my mom died when I was one...it has occupied alot of space in my brain. I think of it as the prize you get at the end. Or the safety net in my back pocket for when all else fails. For some reason, I have found it comforting to know that the solution is mine, if I ever really need it.

[Evoman]

45. Good post

I've never thought about killing myself....but its kind of comforting that no matter how bad things get, there is some sort of release in the future.

And really...the only thing you ever HAVE to do in life....is die. Everything else is an option!

[Ilsa]

23. Alot over the last two days. I'm wondering if it comes in "threes" or

something morbid like that. The construction guy that was here doing some work has a family member who was almost killed in a car wreck, and probably won't make it. And a local kid was killed in Iraq. And I'm wondering who/how/when/where the next shoe will drop.

But I think of death as not to be feared or dismissed as evil, as some Christians do. I see death as a blessing at times, a chance to rest from one's labors, a release from pain. I've had relatives, though, who believed you had to fight it and put up resistance as a matter of faith because they thought death was evil.

Deep subject. You'll be busy reading this thread awhile, as shall I.

[TomInTib]

24. I was clinically dead (drowning) once and have been around..

a lot of death since.

I have also been at the Door, twice.

I think ol' Death just sleeps on the doorstep, waiting for an invite.

That failing, he/she just wanders down the Street, accepting any handouts that come her/his way.

I am just not ready to shake hands, yet.

[1620rock]

33. Death...I fear it. Yet at times I long for it...maybe it's like..nothing..

...I mean for the 3.5 billion years that the earth has existed,I did not. I have been here but 60 years. Before this 60 years there was nothing, and I guess after I'm done for, more nothing...It's almost done now at this age. I fear life and I fear death....People ask me why I fly and ride a motorcycle at 60. I guess you just live for today. The only thing that I believe is eternal is that there is a bridge between the living and the dead...and the bridge is love...nothing else matters, nothing else counts...love is eternal. Sometimes I feel that I have never belonged on this planet. It's a cruel, vicious. uncaring and heartless place. I mean here we are a specious of violent murderous hairless apes who prey upon, exploit, and abuse every other living thing on the planet for our own amusement, gratification, or gain. Then (thinking that we are in someway special) pray to a God of our invention, and feel that we are to all. So superior that we shall have blessings, favors, and eternal life.
Screw that poppycock. Who wants to live eternally in this place, with this vicious tribe of hateful hairless monikers anyway?....As some poet of long ago once wrote. "Some men are too gentle to live among wolves"....and so it goes. :cry:

[Evoman]

46. I've felt that too

I'm not a violent guy...I have respect for all life. I won't even kill a bug most time (I take them outside). Sometimes I feel like I was born at the wrong time, on the wrong planet. I look around me at these vain people...people who don't think about the world, who don't contemplate themselves or their societies, who don't separate themselves from their culture. And I don't fit in. I guess it would be a lot easier fitting in if I wasn't so critical...I analyze myself constantly, make sure I don't lie to myself. I've trained myself to catch those moments when I am trying to delude myself. I try to understand myself from the OUTSIDE, if that makes any sense. I'm constantly analyzing my society. I am constantly analyzing other people..trying to see what makes them tick. And I don't think a lot of people do that...they more or less accept what their society teaches them. I don't belong.

I don't care about possessions (okay maybe that isn't true...I really like playing video games for fun). But really, I would be just as happy without all this shit. Sometimes I walk down the street or in the mall and think to myself....all you people...your all going to be dead someday. Your walking around, buying stuff, thinking about how to make more money, worrying about the latest fashions...but who really gives a shit. It reminds me of that great "No Fear" T-shirt people used to wear. "He who dies with the most toys....still dies."

I wouldn't want to ever live in Heaven, if such a place exists. Because I couldn't be ME in heaven. Besides, I don't know if I would want to live around the sort of people that are supposed to go to heaven.

[TomInTib]

26. I am ready for dead...I just think that the process of death might

be a little uncomfortable...and am so not looking forward to the final breath.

Ms.TomIntib here...

I lost a husband and two wonderful lovers in just under two years to death. It was an incredible soul-stretching experience, for which I am forever grateful. It was a remarkable learning experience, that I bore on this side of life. The earth-world is a hard school, and I look forward to graduation day, although I hope it is relatively painless...the life-force that drives us is so strong, that it is hard to let go.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

27. I keep it on the schedule

I'm not particularly young and not at all healthy, so I figure it'll get here sooner than later. I think about what I need to get done before it happens. I'm not talking about momentous things like finishing novels or traveling to exotic lands. Just prosaic things that matter to me. I want to have my affairs in order. I want to have control over things to the extent that I'm able. I want to ensure that whatever I can leave behind will be of some benefit to those I love, or at the very least not another burden.

I'm not afraid of being dead, but I'm afraid of the dying process. I have always structured my life to minimize my dependence on others. I like to take care of myself. The dying process destroys any illusion of self-sufficiency. And it hurts. I don't look forward to it.

But death itself I do not fear. Eternal rest - nice if that's true. Eternal nothingness - well, I can't conceive what that is, limitations of the human mind and all. Reincarnation - cruel joke in my estimation, a kind of a "thank you sir may I have another." Big happy heaven - not likely. Worm food is as far as I can go with the end result, churned up and turned into loam, maybe someone plants some nice cabbages or something. My life as a cabbage.

I'm an agnostic insofar as I Don't Know. If there is a creator/supreme being kind of entity, I'm 100% sure it bears very little resemblance to the caricatures worshiped on Earth. But what do I know? I'm a sentient animal, a carbon-based critter. To quote Manuel from Fawlty Towers, "I know nothing, nothing."

[dweller]

28. it's like one side of the coin

and i believe it flips ... lifetime after lifetime.

i find reassurance in the constant change of seasons, and rebirth of plants, nature, life around me.

and rest assured that i'm as much of a part of nature as any other life on this good Earth.

so, i don't sweat it, nor take advantage of it. I relish life, find a moment will last eternally when lost in thought, and have spent over 50 years in enough reverie to feel it's been but a blink of an eye. I guess it's all perspective.

peace
dp

[Erika]

29. Death is natural. Something we will all face.

To me it has nothing to do with the so called hereafter.

The question as to whether we continue to live after death is unknown. However, if you believe in the religious hereafter, I think you must also believe in judgment day.

I wonder if that is the reason so many religious people fear death, such as Tammy Faye. Or why so many fanatics fought to keep Schiavo alive.

If they believe in Heaven, do they not believe in eternal life and happiness?

[Erika]

32. Art Buchwald is choosing death over dialysis

Rather than three times a week in dialysis, he is choosing to die naturally. He has chosen a natural death over a life with what he considers, little quality.

[silverweb]

40. I respect him for that.

I just read his recent interview with Tom Brokaw and loved it. May we each have such grace.

[silverweb]

39. Often.

My parents are in their 80s and the awareness of death is all around us, always with us. Our life force will inevitably return to its source.

An image I was once given was that of the crest of a wave, which rides high and dances, sparkling in the sun for a while, then rejoins the deeper water... changed, but not gone. So are we all.

[FM Arouet666]

41. You are one sick individual

But, then again, so am I. I see death every day, a general/vascular surgeon. I have developed a dense rind to human emotion. Before coming home today I told a family that their father was going to die from cancer, no cure, no hope, the cancer would win. Jumped into my car, flipped on the CD and sped home, forgetting the experience until I read your post. Damn, I must be cold.

I think of death everyday, my death, the death of my family, the death of our civilization, of our species. A comet could wipe out our planet today, no tears, no salvation, a brutal reality of the universe in which we live. The destruction of all human life on earth would have no greater significance to the universe then the collision of two particles of dust in inner stellar space.

When I become stressed, I too find solace in the notion that none of this matters. I have thought of your epochs many times, the 100 years, the 1000 years, a million. A failing of our species seems to be a propensity toward a belief in our own self-importance. Religion seems to play into this belief, 'a personal saviour.'

Today is all that matter to me, in a million years the world might not know of my existence, the pyramids reduced to dust, christ and muhammad buried in history, humans just another extinct species.

Nice post Evo.............:toast: :evilgrin:

[Evoman]

47. Surrounded by death...not me

You want to know something? I have never been to a funeral. I have never had a friend die. I have never been in the presence of a family member who has died (I have lost a grandma, but she was in another country and I didn't know her very well).

I've never had to confront death *knock on wood*.

I don't want to die, but I can't help but think about it.

I guess if you don't want to die, just be Evomans friend lol.

"Today is all that matter to me, in a million years the world might not know of my existence, the pyramids reduced to dust, christ and muhammad buried in history, humans just another extinct species."

Thats what so many people don't realize. We are a product of our times. We like to think OUR culture is so important, OUR CULTURE at THIS TIME is the BEST THERE IS. A million years into the future, America will probably be dust, the bible will be lost to time and lost all significance, and everything we think is so important will be completely irreleveant.

We are not important. What we think is important, is not. And the fucked up thing, is that very thought gives me solace.

[Goblinmonger]

56. Since this is the atheist sharing thread

I mentioned this in another form, but white-water rafting down the Colorado River planted those same thoughts very deeply in me. I realized that we as humans are nothing compared to the mountains, rivers, etc. And the earth is really nothing compared to the universe. It was a moment that confirmed my atheism and made me feel much like Evoman does about death. It was also weird that I "knew" an experience like that should make me thank god for giving me the world (lingering effects of a catholic seminary experience) but it didn't. And I have been happier since.

[trotsky]

53. I think about it occasionally.

But I have to say that honestly, death scares me a lot less now as an atheist than it did when I was a Christian.

Like you & FM, I take comfort in the fact that life will go on, if not human life, some other kind of life, somewhere in the universe.

I'll have as much fun as I can in the years that I have, and try to leave the world a slightly better place than it was when I got here. That's really about all we can ever do.

[catbert836]

58. Not very often.

But I'm not afraid of it at all. There's simply no reason to be. I find that with people of deep religious faith, they tend to fear death because they know their God is going to be judging them, and they're afraid. But not me. When I die, I'll just go back to the earth, and go on like I've been doing for the billions of years before now. If there's an afterlife, okay. We can't really know.
Here's "Thanatopsis", by William Cullen Bryant, which nicely sums up my views on death.


To him who in the love of nature holds
Communion with her visible forms, she speaks
A various language; for his gayer hours
She has a voice of gladness, and a smile
And eloquence of beauty; and she glides
Into his darker musings, with a mild
And healing sympathy that steals away
Their sharpness ere he is aware. When thoughts
Of the last bitter hour come like a blight
Over thy spirit, and sad images
Of the stern agony, and shroud, and pall,
And breathless darkness, and the narrow house,
Make thee to shudder, and grow sick at heart;--
Go forth, under the open sky, and list
To Nature's teachings, while from all around--
Earth and her waters, and the depths of air--
Comes a still voice. Yet a few days, and thee
The all-beholding sun shall see no more
In all his course; nor yet in the cold ground,
Where thy pale form was laid, with many tears,
Nor in the embrace of ocean, shall exist
Thy image. Earth, that nourished thee, shall claim
Thy growth, to be resolved to earth again,
And, lost each human trace, surrendering up
Thine individual being, shalt thou go
To mix forever with the elements,
To be a brother to the insensible rock
And to the sluggish clod, which the rude swain
Turns with his share, and treads upon. The oak
Shall send his roots abroad, and pierce thy mold.

Yet not to thine eternal resting-place
Shalt thou retire alone, nor couldst thou wish
Couch more magnificent. Thou shalt lie down
With patriarchs of the infant world -- with kings,
The powerful of the earth -- the wise, the good,
Fair forms, and hoary seers of ages past,
All in one mighty sepulchre. The hills
Rock-ribbed and ancient as the sun, -- the vales
Stretching in pensive quietness between;
The venerable woods -- rivers that move
In majesty, and the complaining brooks
That make the meadows green; and, poured round all,
Old Ocean's gray and melancholy waste,--
Are but the solemn decorations all
Of the great tomb of man. The golden sun,
The planets, all the infinite host of heaven,
Are shining on the sad abodes of death
Through the still lapse of ages. All that tread
The globe are but a handful to the tribes
That slumber in its bosom. -- Take the wings
Of morning, pierce the Barcan wilderness,
Or lose thyself in the continuous woods
Where rolls the Oregon, and hears no sound,
Save his own dashings -- yet the dead are there:
And millions in those solitudes, since first
The flight of years began, have laid them down
In their last sleep -- the dead reign there alone.

So shalt thou rest -- and what if thou withdraw
In silence from the living, and no friend
Take note of thy departure? All that breathe
Will share thy destiny. The gay will laugh
When thou art gone, the solemn brood of care
Plod on, and each one as before will chase
His favorite phantom; yet all these shall leave
Their mirth and their employments, and shall come
And make their bed with thee. As the long train
Of ages glides away, the sons of men--
The youth in life's fresh spring, and he who goes
In the full strength of years, matron and maid,
The speechless babe, and the gray-headed man--
Shall one by one be gathered to thy side,
By those, who in their turn, shall follow them.

So live, that when thy summons comes to join
The innumerable caravan, which moves
To that mysterious realm, where each shall take
His chamber in the silent halls of death,
Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night,
Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.


If you read that all, good job.

[Nihil]

63. Varies from "often" to "rarely"

I only tend to think of my own death in a gloomy fashion if I'm in a
depressive phase - fortunately rare this year! - but I tend to think
of the generic concept of death far more often.

My wife gets really worked up - anxiety attacks or worse - about the
thought of her own death but it just doesn't seem to hit me like that
at all.

Some of your comments ...

> ... nothing that I do matters in the long run....within 100 years,
> few people will remember me. Within 1000 years, I will be nothing
> but a name. Everybody who ever bullied me, who ever loved me...will
> also be dead.

... remind me of Pink Floyd's lyrics in "Dark Side of the Moon"
"All you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be"

IMO, that's a fair summary of the "first-person" aspect of death.

> So I want to know...what do you all think when you think about death.
> Do you fear it? Do you look forward to it? Are you like me, strangely
> comforted but not looking forward to it? If your theist...are you
> scared of death? Are you so 100 percent sure that Jesus exists that
> your fine with dying? If your atheist....do you fear death?

I don't fear death but, at the moment, I would view it as a great
disappointment, an inconvenience, as I'd really like to see my children
grow up, maybe raise children of their own, have the satisfaction of
paying off my mortgage and other such trivia ... the act of dying is
an event in my future - certain to happen yet unknown in detail - and
not something I spend much time thinking about as a rule. Posts like
yours are really good in as much as they bring thoughts to the surface!
I view myself as spiritual but non-denominational (raised as Catholic,
married as Anglican, have agreed to my children being christened as
Anglican but am just generically Deist these days - with *lots* of
different influences!). Quite how much bearing that has on my view of
death I don't know ...

What a caterpillar sees as the end, the butterfly sees as the beginning.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

70. Every day

maybe three or four times a day. I am aware it's getting a bit chilly.