I don't want to talk about death in terms of loss mostly because I am no authority on the topic. I have yet to feel the impact of death and grief in my life, a fact for which I am grateful. To discuss death in that context would perhaps be disrespectful to the experiences of others. 

 I am more interested in death as a concept and its usefulness to the individual in his life.

Death as the ultimate equaliser.

I find great comfort in knowing that even the scariest, most powerful person I know is going to die. Just like how I'm going to die. Sometimes I think our souls make us more alive than our physical bodies in a truer sense of the word. It is humbling to know that for all your victories and failures and  disappointments, you will be nothing more than dust eventually. This realisation has made me realise that I am neither better nor worse than anyone else, because we all end up the same way. (At this point it occurs to me to bring in various religious schools of thought, but I would much rather focus on an outcome I can ascertain.) Understanding death from this point of view is helpful in humanising even the most daunting of bosses and teachers. 

The fear of death

Why are so many people afraid of dying? "Even the people who want to go to heaven, don't want to die to go there" is what Steve Jobs said in a speech that is quoted way too much. ( I know I'm not helping either.) But I realised that maybe the fear of death is nothing more than a fear that you have not lived well enough in the time you've been alive. But I think the deeper root of my fear of death, i.e. what scares me greatly is the idea that when I am gone and all the people who care about me are gone, my life will no longer mean anything. This is a sobering thought-- but it's helped me in two ways. Firstly, it's made me realise not to take myself too seriously. I think many people want to be great, remembered, to leave a legacy. But maybe for most people there is no such thing, and that doesn't make us any lesser than anyone else. But if I want to be remembered by the people who matter, maybe I need to focus on the small victories in life and the small pleasures. Also, perhaps the person who matters the most in my story is me. 

Remember death

Those are the two main things I thin death has taught me about life. Death is not my enemy, death reminds me that I am not a super-human ruler of the world and that I should be grateful for that. Because  I do not need to carry some hazy yet pregnant burden around.  But most importantly, more than living for a higher purpose or for others or even a higher God or gods,  I must live for myself. 

Re-learning death

Re-evaluating my views on death has been refreshing for me. But come tomorrow when I have to wrestle with three essays and other assorted assignments, I will probably feel terrible again at some point. But maybe it will give me another chance to look at death again, and as a result, life.

Memento Mori-Remember Death