Death and Jane Goodall

Okay - lets get this puppy out on the table.

Why is this a bee in my bonnet now? Because of something my mother said when talking about living wills and healthcare proxies. I said "In case something should happen to me" - and mom said "Don't say that"

Well, yes lets say it. In my mind, there is, for now, a real possibility that something could go wrong, no matter how remote, including death. I am not operating under the idea that this will happen now and as a result of tumor I am dealing with. In this I am confident I will be triumph and will live a long life. But that said dealing with death is now more personal to me and maybe I am just a little more aware of it then I was before.

Up until fairly recently I haven't known death. I am fortunate that both my parents are still alive and all of my immediate family. But I have dealt over the last few years with death with Jeff and my cat Ariel - and now I face my own - no matter how remote.

But by my mothers comment reminds me that we here in the US at least are very uncomfortable with death and have pushed it to the edge of life. And this is where Jane Goodall comes in. We don't deal with death - we don't think it is part of life - but it is. My sister, brother-in-law and I were watching Bill Moyers last night and his interview with Jane Goodall - and one of the points they were making is that we have to make death part of life again. This point was tied into the fact that we are bringing on the 6th great extinction of this plant and at the rate we are going, it might include ourselves.

So lets talk of death - not in a morbid way - obsessing about it - but in a wholesome, balanced way - especially in the dark time of the year when all seems dead and bare - and in a way beautiful in its bare existence.