The Mortality Question

I just saw a slideshow with a beautiful song tributed to a rather young looking man who was an Uncle to the person. He seemed like a great person to be around and I have no idea why he passed on. The tribute was beautiful. Last week I saw that a close family friend died. I searched through our mutual friends on Facebook to find out why but didn’t find the cause anywhere. It seemed to be a car wreck. From as far back as I can remember, my people in the Caribbean die from car accidents way too often. I don’t know about you but 2020 questioned my mortality on more than one occasion and I’ve concluded that there are worst things than death. Let me explain...

The Afterlife and Reincarnation

It’s a beautiful thought to come back to life in another form and to experience this life in a whole new way. That is why Buddhist will not even swat a fly for fear that it might be a loved one who passed on and was reincarnated. I admire Buddhist for a lot more than this reason, they have what seems like a Universal harmony. I do believe that all creations are connected because we all live in the same place and breathe the same air. I tend to stray away from the religious version of the afterlife where heaven and hell are the only options. Can we talk about fear much?

There is an afterlife. There has gotta be one. Do you know how vast the universe is? How many galaxies there are? So, so many. I love knowing what’s out there and that I will meet them one day. The magic in the universe and yes we are made of stardust, supernova explosions to be exact. “All life on Earth and the atoms in our bodies were created in the furnace of now-long-dead stars.” Stars had to die for us to be made. Now do you believe that we are all connected? All matter, oxygen, carbon, atoms we are sprinkled with the stuff that make up stars. "We are a way for the universe to know itself. Some part of our being knows this is where we came from. We long to return. And we can, because the cosmos is also within us. We're made of star stuff."

In every civilization, death has been celebrated. The sacredness of life loss has true meaning for their survivors. The physical body expires but the soul departs on and lives elsewhere. What happens after we die is one of the greatest mysteries, maybe one day we will hear from the departed. Some people already do. I’ve only seen the movies and tv shows some scary and some fantasy, no one really knows, all we know is that there’s more. How could there not be? We are nutso to think we are the only living beings and Earth is the only home. Chances are there are a lot more of “them” than there are us. Where do our departed go?

The more and more I think about life, harmony and reunification- the circle of life or whatever you want to call it, I’m assured that there is a cycle. There is a plan and those who we loose are apart of that plan. The grand finale is that we all depart at one point or another, no specific age or timing but we are reunited with each other. Wherever they are, they are waiting for us too. Do I believe that we are picked and chosen at the “right time” in our lives? Definitely not but who am I to say that we aren’t. We can reach enlightenment in this body, I’m convinced of it. There is no need for a physical transference to be enlightened. I have believed in a Creator and though I am agnostic because of the many diverse religious teachings, I like the thought of someone having an elaborate plan. The Great Teacher of Life exists, “they” are out there somewhere spewing up magic and teaching our departed to do the same. The Creator never stops creating, I believe that. We are apart of the process, we are apart of their creation. There’s no way heaven and hell are our only options. What would be the point?

Humans need to live within boundaries it’s just the way that our civilization works. Just as often as death is questioned, so are those boundaries. Who gets to be in charge? Who gets the final say? What does what they say really matter? It only matters and applies to this physical life. This is all we know, we listen to authority figures- doctors who try to help us heal, judges who determine our good or bad deeds and their consequences. We live within these physical laws so long as we are in this physical body. I dream of the freedom of the departed but undoubtedly they also have their own rules where they reside.

Ok, now back to earthly wisdom. We cry, we mourn, we grieve each other. We do it more often while we are still alive. We want to die because we are feeling so much pain whether it be mentally or physically. Death is misconstrued. It’s not an escape, it’s a process of life and transference. I don’t have all of the answers and I won’t until I’ve experienced it and I’m fine with the unknown. It gives me something to look forward to. The people we meet now, we will meet again and that is the most reassuring thing about death.

There is an eternal cycle that spans across cultures on the topic of life and death. Death feels like a very formal procedure in the western world- hospital, morgue, funeral, burial. Very formal. I would want to be sent off into the ocean, my corpse purfied with fire so that nothing remains as my spirit has already departed the minute my breath is gone. I want everyone to have the biggest bonfire party on the beach, in all the places I’ve lived at the same exact moment. I want my friends and family to be happy for me and my new journey and to know that we will be reunited in due time. Call it faith, call it fantasy this is the way I see death.

We die metaphorically pretty often. Physically we shed skin, we are in the process of dying the more we live, the more we die. As you can tell, I have answered the question of my mortality, have you? I’m not afraid to die. I’m anxious about the procedure of death, I don’t like it. Life is sacred and I don’t want the end of mine to be done by a book. It won’t celebrate all I am, my beliefs, my being, my reason. Which leads me to today.

I will continue to explore our connection to the universe because as far fetched as you might think it sounds, it centers me more than you know. I love Drake for penning the term YOLO: You Only Live Once... Do you? I get the mentality, trust me I do. Do as much as you can now, live your full potential. Be like a cup that runs over, tire yourself out, get close enough to death to feel alive. Risky but worth it? What do we have to loose? I’ve actually never thought that way. Our true potential? What is that and how do we reach it? By expanding our minds, that’s how. Expanding our minds to how things work and their reason. We see and make the connections, we already do it intrinsically we just don’t realize it. Our minds can outlive us. I totally believe that and it’s not just because I like watching sci-fi shows like Alternate Carbon for one but I totally believe that our minds outlive us. Our mental capacity is where our potential lies.

Should I apologize for going “this deep?” Do you think I’m nuts? I’ve never taken any psychedelics and I’ve never seen anything supernatural. I’m an explorer and science, the little that I know about it, has always made sense to me. I was raised on both science and creation, I saw what I needed to see at a very young age. Spending hours with tadpoles, frogs, caterpillars and butterflies. I had to have been 5 or 6 years old. I would harvest caterpillars in jars waiting for their process and journey to becoming butterflies. I knew right then and there from their death that their process was not on my time. I had no power. My power was in knowing their process, believing and trusting it but not seeing it happen before my eyes. I learnt that right then and there and I carried on and was a happy kid. I learnt about metamorphosis back then and I live it. We transform daily... You get the point. Life and it’s processes are beautiful and filled with meaning. Explore that meaning and do not fear it. Do not fear death, do not cause it. Trust the Universe and you will meet it just the way you were always meant to.

So what is worst than death? A life not lived. Get out and do some exploring but always remember and never forget the space that once was and will always be the departed.