I have always treasured the following words by Mark Twain, who wrote, \u201cI do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.\u201d He spoke the truth. When we die, it will be as if we were never born. While physically we may change from one type of matter to another, the flame that flickered so briefly within will be forever extinguished.\u00a0 The world will continue around us, and we will leave behind our children, our art, and the effects of our deeds during our days spent on earth. Our death may be painful to some, but life will go on, and eventually those who mourn will forget.<\/p>\n
That said, when it comes to the topic of death, my heart belongs to Oscar Wilde, who wrote, “Death must be so beautiful. To lie in the soft brown earth, with the grasses waving above one’s head, and listen to silence. To have no yesterday, and no tomorrow. To forget time, to forgive life, to be at peace.” While obviously written with poetic license, Wilde captures the essence of how I view death — as final, eternal, peace.<\/p>\n
And then there’s Shakespeare, whose words have been felt by a million weary travelers on this path we all share:<\/p>\n
To be, or not to be–that is the question:
\nWhether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
\nThe slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
\nOr to take arms against a sea of troubles
\nAnd by opposing end them.
\nTo die, to sleep–No more–and by a sleep to say we end
\nThe heartache, and the thousand natural shocks
\nThat flesh is heir to.
\n‘Tis a consummation
\nDevoutly to be wished…<\/p><\/blockquote>\nI have stood on the precipice, and occasionally, I’ve slipped. But my love for others is what makes the daily struggle worthwhile. Life is too precious and valuable to give up. We have no souls; science and experience have shown that we are our brains and bodies, and that is all. There is no help coming from above. Nor do I wish for any. I see death as the logical, natural, and beautiful end to life.<\/p>\n
Occasionally, I wonder if the way I feel about death influences or inspires my godlessness. I don’t want eternal existence, and I obviously don’t want to spend it with the monstrosities that human beings have invented as their gods. I have no use or desire for heaven. The only things I fear are the pain of life, and the loss of those I love. But I have to realize that occasionally, my loss is also an end to the suffering of others, and thus, their gain. Ironically, in the end, it is the comfort of death that keeps me alive. And while I live, I want to experience all the beauty, passion, and wonder that life has to offer. I don’t want to take more than my share, and I want to make the world a tiny bit better for those who are left behind. If I can do that, then I will consider my life a success.<\/p>\n
___________________________________________________<\/p>\n
<\/h2>\n
Suicide Smiles<\/strong><\/p>\n
Suicide smiles, its beckoning grin,
\nHolds promise of peace, release from your sin.
\nSuicide smiles, through the fear and the pain,
\nIt offers solace; it ruptures the chain.<\/p>\nSuicide smiles, while telling its lies,
\nThere\u2019s something ignoble in those hollow eyes.
\nAnd when you reach out for its welcoming hands,
\nIt whisks you away to invisible lands.<\/p>\nWhile in body and mind you will no longer live,
\nYou\u2019ll leave others behind to mourn and to grieve.
\nFor death\u2019s not a problem for those who are dead,
\nIt maliciously tortures the living instead.<\/p>\nSuicide smiles, with its ice-razor stare
\nIt taunts you so sharply with pointed despair.
\nSuicide rages, since it\u2019s still your choice,
\nAnd you\u2019re still resisting the call of its voice.
\n— 2011<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I have always treasured the following words by Mark Twain, who wrote, \u201cI do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.\u201d He spoke the truth. When we die, it will be as if we were never […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[326],"class_list":["post-1067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-death"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/skepticallyleft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/skepticallyleft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/skepticallyleft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/skepticallyleft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/skepticallyleft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/skepticallyleft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1067\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/skepticallyleft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/skepticallyleft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/skepticallyleft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}