On Death And Fear

Thus far, the options for the human being are slim. Prolong life... this has been the game plan for most of the modern era. Keeping people alive for as long as possible seems to be en vogue, never mind our reasons for keeping people alive, and never mind the fact that there may be another reason for letting life find its own way.

One cannot doubt that prolonging life usually stems from a need to be with loved ones longer. This, in and of itself, is not a bad thing. As human beings, we cling to each other for various reasons, so death has always been the mischievous culprit that takes our world and turns it upside down.

The loss of a friend, a loved one, or a child is a horrible characteristic of the pain living can cause, yet we should focus not on the outcome of what death provides, but we should focus on the actual presence of the idea that is death, and the fear that death delivers.

Pills. Suicide. Cancer. Television. Car Accident. Old Age. War. The endless list of death's duty to take you out of the current world, and comfortably place you in the next. But is the 'next' a world? Before we conquer our tirade on death, we must first deal with the issue of fear.

Fear is an emotion based on either the very real, unreal or both. Fear was instilled in us as a component to deal with many aspects of life. If man were a car, fear would be the brake pads. Bad analogy. Fear is more than that, yet some allegorical illusion was needed to understand that fear is a very necessary part of the human machine, yet it is not necessarily a negative.

Fear has gotten a bad reputation over the years. In the modern era, fear is categorized as a weakness. We only let our fears show when absolutely necessary, and even then we are cautious about letting our guard down. Showing fear also welcomes predatory human beings into our lives, which can have very dire consequences.

Death is attached to fear because death, too, is seen as a negative. Before death, we have to experience fear because fear is the vehicle we arrive in when driving towards death. If death were seen as a positive, and we will look into this soon, than fear would not be associated with death. Fear would have its biggest client, death, gone, and eradicated from one of the most impressive portfolios in the human being's emotional make-up!

Now that we have established fear as an emotion linked to death, one has to wonder what death wants? Well... death wants life. Death has come to claim what life has abandoned.

The human being was obviously born to die. Whatever one believes about creation, death cannot be denied. Whatever one thinks made life, made death. Death has an insatiable appetite for life. The master plan for life included death. All roads come to an end, all doors lead to another dimension and all existence comes to a resting place. There is no arguing death. Death is irrefutable.

One would think that the human being would take comfort knowing that a result is guaranteed. Human minds constantly search for answers, so death, as conclusion to life, should be satisfactory. But it is not satisfactory. It is quite the opposite. Death has the human being in a tricky position. Humans know that only one thing is for sure: death wants them, and death will have them in the end.

Death in every culture weighs very differently, and always has, yet the modern era has persistently pushed for a global consideration for the fear of death. In the past, death was perceived to be a right of passage, or, at least in some cases, just a part of life.

Even though past generations seemingly tolerated death better, one cannot suggest that past generations did not fear death, nor were comfortable with the idea. Whether it be Native American culture, or Oriental histories, death has simply been accepted by some, and not by others. In the cases of accepted death, those specific cultures came at death with a reverence, or at least an honorable homage to a life coming to a close.

The modern era has almost completely eradicated the idea of honoring death, quite possibly due to the wealth keeping people alive has created, but also because the modern era is an era that perpetuates fear better than any era before it. Even though science and technology are keeping more people alive longer, the money to be made off of this is great, and the catastrophic dwindling of our resources further pushes modern man into the hands of the illusion the modern era wants humanity to accept.

The interesting thing is this: we are all dying each day, little by little, and in our own little way. Since birth, man has been slowly crawling towards death. Television is death. Radio is death.

Too much radiation, cancerous rays, the acid rain, the sun... it all has death built in! Even in some cultures, the ejaculations of man are known as little deaths. Little deaths are a good way of describing the pain of casual existence. Our little deaths come in small doses, yet we only see the bigger picture, which is the end, or what we call the extermination of the body: death.

There is no need to even remotely criticize suicide, war, or any of the other ways in which humanity ceases to exist because they all lead to the same conclusion. Most of us wish for a pain free, expedient death, but that is absurd because we are dying daily, dying painfully hour by hour, and we are so focused on the end, we have missed the present, which is the most horrific death of all.

The last trick of the human being is positivity. I think therefore I am. Think positive, be positive and all will be fine. This mastery of illusion is the most painful little death on the market. If you cannot change anything, you should at least be positive. But why?

Humanity is a negative by design. We are flawed, our mechanical structure breaks down and we do not last nearly as long as other creations. Too be negative is to be human. To be positive is to be neurotic, and disillusioned. It looks great on paper, yet society knows that happiness is a perpetually boring attribute. We ask of our neighbor to be pleasant, but all the while, the self, the most selfish thing on Earth, is miserable and condescending.

Why must we have a positive, happy face for society to embrace? We are animals in a technological nightmare under an illusional sky painted jet black. We should be forming support groups based on misery, not twelve-stepping towards the great illusion of a better way. This better way only leads you towards your impending slumber.

One is not suggesting that the human being should be cruel; one is suggesting the human should be mortal. There is a difference, you know...

Many artists have dealt with death. Poets like Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath centered their works around death. Musicians like Joy Division and Nick Drake explored the darker recesses of existing. Without these brave artists, death in the modern era might have totally lost its way.

Artists have always been the saviors of preserving ideals long forgotten by a present society. Uncomfortable with the sterility of their time, artists have been the shining light in a very dark world. War, famine, disease, or any of the numerous cultural shifts have always had the artists' critical eye along for the ride to ensure that nothing gets lost.

Without the documentation of the artist, histories would be even more of a fabrication then they already are, and the preservation of the artist is humanities greatest challenge. Although we are, at times, uncomfortable with the message of a certain artist, they, like the prophets of old, are there to illuminate the way for future generations. That death has been present in artistic endeavors for as long as anyone can remember, humanity should continue to draw from these works to better understand what is coming for them in the near future.

Death, and fear hang over us like a lead weighted balloon about to burst. We are constantly looking over our shoulder, wondering when death will come claim its next victim.

People are dying as we speak. They are dying simply because they were living, and nothing more. Sometimes things are the way they are, and there is nothing more to it. There is something more to death, but it is not something we are able to understand, at least not while we are alive.

We should embrace life while we have it, embrace death when we receive it and embrace the fact that we are all in the same boat. For some, death is the beginning of a new, and hopefully better journey. For others, death is the end. For some, death cheats us out of a life we really love, but for others, death is the only way out of a life we cannot bear to live any longer.

Each comes with its own respect. Each comes with its own principles. To each his own.

The sky has turned to a pale shade of grey. The trees are blowing cold air all around the fractured city. Cars are manipulating the concrete veins, pouring acrid smoke into the lungs of the modern era.

A procession of lights turn West towards the outskirts of the city. First, a long black limousine, and then about thirty cars of different makes and models. A somber sound is silent from the motorcade. You can feel the sadness.

They will eventually reach the cemetery. They will lay to rest the person whose life is now completed. A few will stay longer than the others. Life will resume. Everyone will eventually go back to living. They always have... they always will...