Delusions...

The prospect of death may seem like a bitter pill to swallow, but swallow it we must. With our greatly extended lifespans, allied to a historically low rate of infant mortality, we have become strangers to the reality of death. In the theatre of life, death now usually happens off-stage. We are more likely to hear about death than to witness it, and we hire a team of undemonstrative men, in black suits, to fulfil the legal and emotional obligations of a funeral. Few of us will ever see a dead body.
     While our fear of death may be the cause of sleepless nights, it is the denial of death which poisons our days. It is better to accept the temporary nature of life than to resist it. Maintaining our eternal-life delusions is exhausting and time-consuming; the sooner we acknowledge the truth, the more meaningful our remaining years on earth are likely to be. Only then will we have accurate data to inform our choices; only then will we be able to celebrate “the texture, forms and forces” of this world...