Death

[caption id=“attachment_4832” align=“alignleft” width=“1000”] “Mostly it is loss which teaches us about the worth of things.” ~ Arthur Schopenhauer[/caption] Is death anyone’s favourite topic? Death has always been a heavy topic for me and most people I know shy away from any discussion around the topic whenever it comes up. It’s as though not talking about it will make it go away. I’m talking here about physical death - that of a loved one or beloved pet. There’s no impermanence about physical death. We never get to see our loved one again in this life. ...

My companion and friend departed this world yesterday. She was not a human - but a cat. Nothing in my life had ever prepared me for this kind of love or loss. I’m writing this as a tribute/memorial to her as much as to help myself to deal with my feelings around losing her. [caption id=“attachment_30” align=“alignnone” width=“525”] ”Cats come into your house to teach you about affection, they leave to teach you about the loss.”~Jules Verne[/caption] ...

I took this image in a Chapters/Indigo bookstore in Toronto, Canada Normally we do not like to think about death. We would rather think about life. Why reflect on death? When you start preparing for death you soon realize that you must look into your life now… and come to face the truth of your self. Death is like a mirror in which the true meaning of life is reflected. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche ...

As 2018 began and all the good wishes abounded for a Happy New Year, I was filled with anticipation and joy for this new beginning. There’s something about a brand new start that brings a hopefulness to one’s soul and spirit. One never knows what’s in store but hopes it will be good. In fact, the collage below is usually the one I put on my Facebook page on New Year’s Eve. When one is in good or reasonably good health and can participate in their own life and the lives of those around them, the New Year is a time of hope. Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering ‘it will be happier’… ALFRED LORD TENNYSON ...

I’m pleased to introduce my good friend, Cynthia, who is seventy-eight years young. She has always been a very positive influence on me in her outlook on life and her youthful enthusiasm for living. I wanted to know what was her secret to “youthful aging.” What were the life lessons she learned along the way that might help me with my own aging process? For those of you who have followed my posts, you may have noticed that I like to highlight my friends. I have done posts on the skills, talents, and abilities, or whatever moved me about some of my friends - and this post is just another example. ...

But now, O LORD, thou [art] our father; we [are] the clay, and thou our potter; and we all [are] the work of thy hand. (Book of Isaiah) On this 16th anniversary of my father’s death, one might think that the day could pass with just a slight remembering and a moving on - a kind of forgetting as the tasks of the day took over. Alas, that was not to be! From the beginning of this month, I started to think of this day approaching. Luckily for me, my Art class was this morning and I worked diligently at my clay creations. Vaguely, I remembered the Bible saying something about clay and decided to look it up. The above verse was one of the ones I found. My father was a “religious” man. He would approve of me looking things like this up. ...

[caption id=“attachment_2933” align=“aligncenter” width=“5256”] “The symbolic language of the crucifixion is the death of the old paradigm; resurrection is a leap into a whole new way of thinking.” – Deepak Chopra[/caption] It’s time to celebrate Easter once again. Like Christmas, Easter is one of the big celebrations in the Christian calendar year. The crucifixion of Jesus took place on Good Friday and the resurrection followed three days later. On Good Friday, many people go to church but not quite as many as on Easter Sunday. Even people who don’t attend church the rest of the year sometimes go to church on Easter Sunday. I once heard a priest lament about the numbers that come out for Good Friday services. He said that people aren’t as much interested in the death of Jesus as in his resurrection. Below are some interesting statistics I found on the internet showing the percentages of persons of different faiths (age-of-the-sage.org). As you can see, there are many people for whom Easter is just a secular holiday. ...

[caption id=“attachment_2662” align=“aligncenter” width=“800”] To live in hearts we leave behind Is not to die. ~Thomas Campbell, “Hallowed Ground”[/caption] What a way to remember one’s dead! The Day of the Dead or Dia de Muertos celebrations took place here in Toronto yesterday at Harbourfront and is taking place again today. It’s a two day Festival which has its roots in Mexico. The atmosphere was festive rather than mournful - although all the paraphernalia surrounding death was visible there. “The Mexican holiday of Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, takes place over the first two days of November. Its origins are a mixture of Native American traditions and a set of Catholic holidays. While the holiday’s observances include spending time in cemeteries, making shrines to the dead, and displaying artistic representations of skulls and skeletons, the occasion is festive, rather than morbid. Death isn’t seen as the end of one’s life, but as a natural part of the life cycle; the dead continue to exist much as they did in their lives, and come back to visit the living every year.” (Factmonster.com) Would that we would all be like the Mexicans who are able to have joyful and celebratory feelings about death and dying. This is truly a blessing. ...

[caption id=“attachment_2625” align=“aligncenter” width=“480”] “The living owe it to those who no longer can speak to tell their story for them.” ― Czesław Miłosz, The Issa Valley[/caption] Another colouring page finished! What good use could this be put to? This could be used for sharing poetry - my father’s. It’s no accident that this desire to share and remember should take place at this time. After all, we remembered five days ago that he’s been gone fifteen years. He would love his poetry on a page that I had coloured - he was that type of man! I remember when I started to learn to play the accordion shortly before he died - and he told me that he listened when I was practicing and how many pieces I could play - and there was a pride in his voice. I didn’t show my appreciation as much as I should have at the time. I understand now why it was important for him to say these things. ...

The poem below is a new discovery for me. I came across it on Facebook a few days ago and was fascinated by the insights that the poet, Rose Milligan, was able to present in these four stanzas. I was curious to find out who she was but there wasn’t a plethora of information available on her. Dust If You Must Dust if you must. But wouldn’t it be better, To paint a picture, or write a letter, ...