Spoiler Alert – you will die.

In 1973 Ernest Becker won the Pulitzer Prize for The Denial of Death.  We’ve been denying for a while.  The toss-up seems to be with the dual nature of our physical selves and our symbolic selves. And that comes down too,  here we are… what does it mean?  The search for meaning or the true nature of reality is good/absolute.  It awakens the mind and that, my friends, is a connection to the present, which is wisdom. 

They say our life flashes before our mind’s eye in our final days.   Will yours be all scared and in denial about the fact that you will die?  Or might we find meaning which has us present in our everyday lives?… with whatever is?

Why exactly are we so frightened of death that we avoid looking at it altogether? Or worse, we take all manner of measures to get more “dying days”. 

Somewhere, deep down, we know we cannot avoid facing dying and death forever. Nothing is permanent and enduring.

When you are in denial, you’re trying to protect yourself by refusing to accept the truth about mortality.

When you are in denial, you’re trying to protect yourself by refusing to accept the truth about your dying and death that is  happening. Refusing to acknowledge mortality is a way of coping with fear, stress, painful thoughts, conflict, threatening information and anxiety. You can be in denial about anything that makes you feel vulnerable or threatens your sense of control, such as dying.  You can be in denial about something happening to you or to someone else.

When you’re in denial, you:

~ Will not acknowledge a difficult situation

~ Try not to face the facts

~ Downplay possible consequences of the matter.

Sometimes it seems as if the only real activity we are engaged in is closing our eyes to the truest fact about life: No one makes it out alive.

The word ‘disposal’ is a roundabout way of getting to the word ‘corpse’.  It happens to be something that is necessary to do with a corpse… one way or another.  What way will you choose?  Or will you let someone else make that decision (another great ‘d’ word) for you?  If so, who?  How will they know what you want?

What are the choices for disposal of a corpse here in Nova Scotia?

None of the above….. yet.

However, you do have the options of cremation, conventional burial, or green burial.  The former two have a significant negative impact on the environment.  The latter, however, replenishes our soils, and leaves a very minimal carbon footprint.

So, if you care about the method of disposal of your corpse, you might want to consider your options before you die, and document and share them with the folks who will be taking care of your body.

If you care about the environment, choose green burial…. for more information go to www.greenburialns.ca.

Experience brings familiarity.  Sometimes.  What we don’t know is a mystery.  Death is a mystery.  And is surrounded by myths.  Bringing curious investigation to any and all experiences may discover truths.  Myths could be proven or disproven.

For instance, death is not an emergency.  The body of your loved one can be taken care of at home… with a little preparation (and some ice packs).  In fact, if the death occurs in an institution, you could move the body to your home for lying in.  A funeral home, funeral director, and embalming are not required, though their expertise with handling corpses can sometimes be helpful.  Granted, there is official paperwork that must be filed, but Access Nova Scotia can help.

The ritual cleansing of the dead has been practiced in some form in almost every culture for thousands of years.  It is natural and normal.  And can go a long way to facilitating a healthy grieving process.  Caring for and honouring our dead is absolutely sensible….. and a logical extension of the love and care we have for each other from the time of birth.

Think about it.