How to die...
I have been a little out of sorts these past few days. I guess it all started when I came back from Bintan just a couple of days ago having spent the weekend there with some of my ex-uni hostel mates. During a period of less that 48 hours, we played nine rounds of mahjong. With my notoriously bad luck, I of course managed to actually give free stays to two of my friends. Sigh. Anyway, after I came back from Bintan, I have been alternating between being marginally depressed and being a real bitch. I'd love to call myself a bastard, but I do know who my parents are; so I'll settle for being a bitch, obvious gender discrepancies notwithstanding.
So it is with this not-so-hidden sense of appropriateness that I realise my next topic which I flagged from Mr Piers Anthony, has got to do with how to die.
I believe for most of us, those of us who have spent a certain amount of time thinking about it anyway, we are not so much scared of death, but rather the manner in which we will die. I mean, seriously, what can happen after death? In popular culture, there is technically only four things that can happen after death. You can a) go to heaven, b) go to hell, c) become reincarnated, d) be in total and eternal stasis. Of course you can also become the odd ghost/spirit/poltergeist/apparition, but that doesn't really count because you are technically still of the earth (more on that some other blog-entry).
The manner of dying on the other hand... now for that the possibilities are endless. You can die from disease, old age, suicide, poison, wounds, murder, heartbreak... the list goes on and on and on. And most of these modes of dying, other than perhaps just sitting in a car for 48 hours with the car engine running, involve a great deal of pain. Yes, I believe I'm not afraid of dying, just the way I am going to die.
Contrary to what the title of this entry might imply, I am not going to discuss how to die in any terms of methodology. There are already far too many forums and discussion boards on the internet for that. So, apologies to those with suicidal tendencies who happen to stumble over my humble blog. I would like to discuss instead, how I would not like to die.
Ideally, I really would rather not have to die with an excessive amount of pain and suffering. There is already too much of that in the world for me to want to add to it. Noble eh? Haha, actually I'm just selfish. I'd rather not have to suffer more than is necessary. Full stop. Seriously though, if I had a choice, I would want to die with all my mental faculties intact. In an earlier entry, I wrote down all my favourite quotations from Tuesdays With Morrie. Underlying that admiration for what Morrie says, is the desire to emulate how he eventually passes from this world. He may suffer from a wasting disease, an ailment that robs him of the dignity to even perform the most basic human functions. But until the very end, he possesses all his mental faculties, his power of reasoning, and his skills of empathy. I think, therefore I am. If I do not think, I therefore am not.
I may change my tune in some distant future. But for now, I would just like to say this to anyone reading this who may be with me when I am on my deathbed: If you know, beyond a shadow of doubt, that I no longer have my mental powers, then let me peacefully die. Because, my mind, my soul, has already gone on to something better.
So it is with this not-so-hidden sense of appropriateness that I realise my next topic which I flagged from Mr Piers Anthony, has got to do with how to die.
I believe for most of us, those of us who have spent a certain amount of time thinking about it anyway, we are not so much scared of death, but rather the manner in which we will die. I mean, seriously, what can happen after death? In popular culture, there is technically only four things that can happen after death. You can a) go to heaven, b) go to hell, c) become reincarnated, d) be in total and eternal stasis. Of course you can also become the odd ghost/spirit/poltergeist/apparition, but that doesn't really count because you are technically still of the earth (more on that some other blog-entry).
The manner of dying on the other hand... now for that the possibilities are endless. You can die from disease, old age, suicide, poison, wounds, murder, heartbreak... the list goes on and on and on. And most of these modes of dying, other than perhaps just sitting in a car for 48 hours with the car engine running, involve a great deal of pain. Yes, I believe I'm not afraid of dying, just the way I am going to die.
Contrary to what the title of this entry might imply, I am not going to discuss how to die in any terms of methodology. There are already far too many forums and discussion boards on the internet for that. So, apologies to those with suicidal tendencies who happen to stumble over my humble blog. I would like to discuss instead, how I would not like to die.
Ideally, I really would rather not have to die with an excessive amount of pain and suffering. There is already too much of that in the world for me to want to add to it. Noble eh? Haha, actually I'm just selfish. I'd rather not have to suffer more than is necessary. Full stop. Seriously though, if I had a choice, I would want to die with all my mental faculties intact. In an earlier entry, I wrote down all my favourite quotations from Tuesdays With Morrie. Underlying that admiration for what Morrie says, is the desire to emulate how he eventually passes from this world. He may suffer from a wasting disease, an ailment that robs him of the dignity to even perform the most basic human functions. But until the very end, he possesses all his mental faculties, his power of reasoning, and his skills of empathy. I think, therefore I am. If I do not think, I therefore am not.
I may change my tune in some distant future. But for now, I would just like to say this to anyone reading this who may be with me when I am on my deathbed: If you know, beyond a shadow of doubt, that I no longer have my mental powers, then let me peacefully die. Because, my mind, my soul, has already gone on to something better.
posted by ekkie at 4:39 am
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