The art of dying

L

lightgigantic

Banned
Banned
Despite so many inequalities in this world there is one thing that visits everyone equally - death.

It has a 100% success rate since time immemorial

Of course this is a popular impetus to re-evaluate one's scruples with spiritual/religious issues, but the purpose of this thread is to examine what personal issues surround the prospect of one's looming non-existence.

What preparations does one make for death?
(yes ok - get your will in order etc etc, but what personal issues require to be addressed?)

Would you find it important that you be remembered by others?
Would you strive to determine in what way you have contributed or benefited others?
Is it sufficient to reflect over one's accomplishments/acquisitions?

Given the prospect of your imminent dying, what values would you hold as pertinent to determine the value of your living?
 
what values would you hold as pertinent to determine the value of your living?
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Breathing, eating, exercising, talking, fishing, swimming, reading, music, museums, boating, flying, traveling, hiking, caring, helping others, meditating and on and on. Just about everything there is to do is what I'm doing for I try to live the best I can while I can. I don't dwell on what lies ahead only what I have can do today while I'm here.
 
cosmictraveler said:
Breathing, eating, exercising, talking, fishing, swimming, reading, music, museums, boating, flying, traveling, hiking, caring, helping others, meditating and on and on. Just about everything there is to do is what I'm doing for I try to live the best I can while I can. I don't dwell on what lies ahead only what I have can do today while I'm here.
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so in otherwords the art of dying is all about casting a wide net while you are living?

What determines the variety?
for instance would reading under water offer a grander variety than what reading and swimming can accomplish separately?
(In other words at what point does variety simple become more of a muchness?)
 
Everything in moderation. Do it one thing at a time that way you can enjoy it to its fullest.;)
 
Your common sense, your sense of what is right and wrong and your own belief system whatever it might be. Those are very helpful although there are others.
 
So now you understand what most people do, use common sense when alive, or at least try to whenever possible.

Three yards of black fabric enshroud my computer terminal. I am mourning the passing of an old friend by the name of Common Sense.

His obituary reads as follows:

Common Sense, aka C.S., lived a long life, but died from heart failure at the brink of the millennium. No one really knows how old he was, his birth records were long ago entangled in miles and miles of bureaucratic red tape.
Known affectionately to close friends as Horse Sense and Sound Thinking, he selflessly devoted himself to a life of service in homes, schools, hospitals and offices, helping folks get jobs done without a lot of fanfare, whooping and hollering. Rules and regulations and petty, frivolous lawsuits held no power over C.S.

A most reliable sage, he was credited with cultivating the ability to know when to come in out of the rain, the discovery that the early bird gets the worm and how to take the bitter with the sweet. C.S. also developed sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn), reliable parenting strategies (the adult is in charge, not the kid) and prudent dietary plans (offset eggs and bacon with a little fiber and orange juice).

A veteran of the Industrial Revolution, the Great Depression, the Technological Revolution and the Smoking Crusades, C.S. survived sundry cultural and educational trends including disco, the men's movement, body piercing, whole language and new math.

C.S.'s health began declining in the late 1960s when he became infected with the If-It-Feels-Good, Do-It virus. In the following decades his waning strength proved no match for the ravages of overbearing federal and state rules and regulations and an oppressive tax code. C.S. was sapped of strength and the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband, criminals received better treatment than victims and judges stuck their noses in everything from Boy Scouts to professional baseball and golf. His deterioration accelerated as schools implemented zero-tolerance policies. Reports of 6-year-old boys charged with sexual harassment for kissing classmates, a teen suspended for taking a swig of Scope mouthwash after lunch, girls suspended for possessing Midol and an honor student expelled for having a table knife in her school lunch were more than his heart could endure.

As the end neared, doctors say C.S. drifted in and out of logic but was kept informed of developments regarding regulations on low-flow toilets and mandatory air bags. Finally, upon hearing about a government plan to ban inhalers from 14 million asthmatics due to a trace of a pollutant that may be harmful to the environment, C.S. breathed his last. Services will be at Whispering Pines Cemetery. C.S. was preceded in death by his wife, Discretion; one daughter, Responsibility; and one son, Reason. He is survived by two step-brothers, Half-Wit and Dim-Wit.

Memorial Contributions may be sent to the Institute for Rational Thought.

Farewell, Common Sense. May you rest in peace.

http://infohost.nmt.edu/~armiller/commonsen.htm
 
cosmictraveler said:
So now you understand what most people do, use common sense when alive, or at least try to whenever possible.
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I never doubted it

What I was curious about however was the issues that this common sense deals with.

For instance does your common sense dictate that reading under water offers a fresh alternative to reading and/or swimming?
What distinguishes one alternative as "fresher" than another?
And most importantly, as it relates to the OP, what is it specifically about the quality of fresh alternatives that make the prospect of inevitable death more manageable?
 
Life is what most people do, to prepare for its conclusion.

In a different thread, I likened it to having to stand up and learn to surf (but there's only one wave).

Some try to do tricks, or boogie around and show off, some have enough to deal with keeping their balance, some cling to the board and hang on for dear life, and some fall off, when they try to stand up.

I think surfing is a good analogy for what people do to "get through" their life, and "get to" the end. On whatever shore it dumps them.
 
Frud11 said:
Life is what most people do, to prepare for its conclusion.

In a different thread, I likened it to having to stand up and learn to surf (but there's only one wave).

Some try to do tricks, or boogie around and show off, some have enough to deal with keeping their balance, some cling to the board and hang on for dear life, and some fall off, when they try to stand up.

I think surfing is a good analogy for what people do to "get through" their life, and "get to" the end. On whatever shore it dumps them.
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I dig the analogy
 
Frud11 said:
Life is what most people do, to prepare for its conclusion.

In a different thread, I likened it to having to stand up and learn to surf (but there's only one wave).

Some try to do tricks, or boogie around and show off, some have enough to deal with keeping their balance, some cling to the board and hang on for dear life, and some fall off, when they try to stand up.

I think surfing is a good analogy for what people do to "get through" their life, and "get to" the end. On whatever shore it dumps them.
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so it's more about accomplishment?

if all you can manage to do in life is keep your balance that's not as good as doing a headstand?

How does this approach and address issues that surround the prospect of getting "washed up somewhere" ?
 
Depends what you mean by "washed up", and "somewhere".

Are there safe islands to get to, between you and the big shore, that mean you can rest up, and ignore the ocean for a while (maybe do some fishing)?!?

Or big, sharp, dangerous rocks that you should keep away from?
(There's a surf spot, not far from where I grew up, Raglan. Out past the township there's an ocean beach, and a corner called "The Boneyard"--lots of rocks not far under the surface--you have to be pretty dude to surf it.)
 
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Frud11 said:
Depends what you mean by "washed up", and "somewhere".

Are there safe islands to get to, between you and the big shore, that mean you can rest up, and ignore the ocean for a while (maybe do some fishing)?.
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I'm not challenging the validity of your values
I am just trying to ascertain what is the connection between the activities of life and the prospect of life ceasing/moving on
 
lg said:
...the prospect of life ceasing/moving on..
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This is what's just around the next corner, all the time, or waiting somewhere, in the wings, or on the shore (--not with a big fluffy towel for you, either).

You/we simply can have no better than "an idea", of how close you are to "the end", at any given time.

Maybe a big rock is in the way up ahead, you won't see it until you're about to crash into it...
 
Frud11 said:
This is what's just around the next corner, all the time, or waiting somewhere, in the wings, or on the shore--not with a big fluffy towel for you, either.
You simply can have no better than "an idea", of how close you are to "the end", at any given time.
Maybe a big rock is in the way up ahead, you won't see it until you're about to crash into it...
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given that people often undergo radical changes in their psychology/life outlook when facing the prospect of imminent death (as opposed to theoretical death) it seems that ante can indeed actually be upped on the "idea of death" stakes
 
lightgigantic said:
given that people often undergo radical changes in their psychology/life outlook when facing the prospect of imminent death (as opposed to theoretical death) it seems that ante can indeed actually be upped on the "idea of death" stakes
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It didn't go up for me when I tried to commit suicide.
 
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