End of Life::Right to End of Life

YÉH√ **√HÉY 

there is no reason to be

afraid of death 

you get a new life

Celebrities  sometimes refer to whom they might have been, had they been, in a past life.

Songwriters, poets and  ordinary folks too, make off-hand comments explaining certain behavior as caused by a past life, or express a desire to do something in a future life.

Yet many people don't seem to get beyond the joking,

self-deprecating remarks to really study the self and the

experience that comes through lives and deaths, life and death.

The concept that the spirit lives beyond the body isn't new.

One way or another, it's been expressed by the world's

religions, secure in their authority won by the sword. 

Some faiths explain the soul returning to the

physical world, some would have the body reuniting with the spirit. 

Religion salvages the notion: not just here today, gone tomorrow.  

Is there a willingness to speak out, or at least mention the possibility, that the human spirit

endures?  Let's push the dialogue and share what we know about death. 

Communication about what people think and feel about life and death would help humans relax, understand their inner nature and prepare for the stages of the physical ending of

life and the advance into death.  

Myth-busting might change attitudes and release the care of the body and spirit for those approaching death, free them from the preachers, doctors and undertakers. We need to be sure that all have the right to their chosen care at end of life.  No extra permits, certificates, living wills and powers of attorneys.  The simple right to chose manner of death and care at end of life must be left to the individual and the chosen circle. 

I think we of human spirit should strive to reduce the impact of the

tangible and spend more time concentrating on the unseen world.

There is much more to see there. 

Nothing to Be Afraid Of

Julian Barnes, bless his British heart, has written a smart engaging memoir-inquiry about death and how to get there.  We need more conversations with cerebral cortex of this stripe, more musings about how others learn about death.  How to deal.  Death is our destination this time around, every time around, whether it's one life or every life.  

Graveside Gastronomy

Eat beside a grave?  You bet.  Cemeteries offer quiet and parkland, or a place to pause on the road to the Open Grave.  Many cultures supply their dead with grave goods -- food, drink, money and supplies for the even longer journey through the AfterLife. What will you take with you into your Open Grave?  I'd like to have a shroud of orange silk, many fragrant flowers, petals, pebbles and vinegar.

Digg the Grave

The open grave examines death.  We're all going to get there,  the ultimate travel experience.  It's not gloomy to plan ahead, but this isn't going to be a website about wills, legacy planning or cremation.  Nooooooo, this log will muse about the many connections we have to death, how death fans and foes examine the topic and whatever I find as I peruse my paper collection about dear old death.  Death art, death music, death dress.  Grave digging, monuments and lore. Cemeteries, ceremonies, cultural taboos.  

First of all, I want to get to Houston to see this very interesting exhibition about Papal regalia associated with death.  

If you've experienced the exhibition, let me know if it is worth the journey.  I'm about 4 hours and $400 by air away from Houston, so maybe I can find a video cam tour to experience the exhibition.