Monday, December 13, 2010

Fear of Death: Embrace the Rejection

Ahh human beings, what a funny addition to nature. We, as in us, the collective equal body of creatures roaming in clothing and makeup making up what we deem the Human Race, aka apelike bipedal parasitical predators, are occasionally barely alive. But what keeps us motivated? What allows our rendition of 'survival' to remain a temporarily stable phenomenon? Fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of death, fear of results resulting in death. Fear of losing what holds onto our selves, stuck stranded on an island, finding too little resources and dying.

It's always about death.

Or at least our perceived notion for what we classify as an acceptable death, socially. Fear that we are so fragile, that any disruption of the temporary balance will result, in death.

So why have I lived so long?

Because I'm not scared of death?

I won't say that, for in spitty moments of curiosity I govern my thoughts towards the chasmic spiral of fear-of-dying. It happens to the best of us. But imagine this for a moment- you're standing on the edge of thee Grand Canyon with a camera in your hand and nobody you know for 300 miles in every direction. What saves you from death? The camera, the canyon, or just your peace of mind that even if a strong gust blew you forward 10 feet and sailing you shatter against the rocks and walls, for at least 300 miles nobody will try to save you.

There's the motivator - we're addicted to being saved. We're obsessed with getting help, and since help is always available our fear of death has expounded, boosting megafold in 10 times 10 to the 10th leaving our once solid fear-fighting heroics weak and maleably sore. Always afraid that the next step might stab with some pestilent nail and riddle our body, minds, bank accounts, wannabe passions with terminal disease, an inevitable death. We're scared, to death, of death.

Are you following?

1st world Humans have developed the habit of living in absolute fear of death. Every decision, big or small, is in some way decided based on whether or not we could die.

Now imagine for a moment that you could believe, realize, come to the conclusion someday that nothing has the power to kill you. At least nothing in your control. You stand on that canyon edge, the wind picks up, you feel that twinge of fear of death, but you just stand there and take it. You sturdy your footing, tighten your hamstrings and hold your ground. The wind beats harder, pushing your hair into your face. Your coat is flailing, the canyon dims covered in grey clouds, but you hold your ground. Leaves and rocks are blowing past you, whooshing overtakes your eardrums. But you hold your ground. Harder you clench your legs, solidify your abdomen, pull taught your shoulders, focus on the canyon, wind-swept tears welling in your eye-sockets from the dry cold air, but you stand firm.

And the wind begins to recede. Your hair pulls away from your face, your coat settles, the leaves cease, the whoosh quiets, and your muscles naturally begin to release. So that soon, there you stand, on the canyons edge alive, strong, alive, beathing, beating, real, full, feeling, smelling, living, and before you stretches the canyons whose depths hadn't claimed your life, like you had thought, feared, but braved.

Braved. It takes bravery, but you knew from the beginning that you weren't going to die so the bravery was not a dishonest hope - and if you were lyingly brave, aka fearfully brave, an unavoidable boulder from the east would have knocked you over the canyon edge.

The true bravery is in knowing that what you're standing for is bigger, healthier, safer and more alive than any life-saving recession, or death-fearing wobbly stance could have brought to you. Risking it all knowing you risk nothing but the eradication of fear itself and not an impending firery flailing fall of death, so that you can feel alive without fear to manacle your heart to the stones. Feeling fearless is feeling.

...

But 1st world humans don't fearlessly feel. They fearfully numb. They don't feel, they fix. Bring me my AA, my Advil, my all-knowing Doctorman. Bring me my quick pain fixer, my feeling numb-ers. Bring me my way to waste everything around me in this heaven on earth. That's the 1st world way, thats modernity.

Yesterday I risked death hundreds of times. Today I'll risk death hundreds of times. Tomorrow, last week, next month. You think I'm stupid? That's because you're afraid.

Let it all go, don't be afraid to feel.

Society recognizes and rejects the fearless now. Embrace the rejection.

Migz

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I agree we have a natural instinct to stay alive...which you put it very Aristotelian-like, well done. However, I do think there is a fine line between stupidity and bravery. I agree you must "embrace the rejection" as you eloquently put it. But to a degree...all things in moderation Mr. Beatty.

mattbeatty said...

I like your opinions on death. I'm reading Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek right now, and in her "Stalking" chapter she has some cool points to make on death and how important it is to the world, more important almost than life. It drives evolution. It drives the world.

"Evolution loves death more than it loves you or me" (176).
It's amazing how "a monstrous world running on chance and death, careening blindly from nowhere to nowhere, somehow produced wonderful us" (177).

Death is cool. (And I recommend this book.)