Fear Not Mortality

Nothing puts the fear in you, like a global pandemic where death is everywhere. I know mortality has been around for a long time, but a global pandemic makes it feel more real and really in your face. COVID-19 is dominating the headlines, like nothing we have ever seen before. The last 10-11 months of this pandemic have been a real shake up in all our lives. Yet I feel now more than ever, we should be seeking to get our affairs in order. It doesn't matter what age you are, ok so maybe kids and teenagers shouldn't do this, but adults should start to plan for any eventuality, including their untimely demise as soon as they can. So why should we plan these things in advance? Planning our death, funeral arrangements can really help if you die suddenly or without warning, as you can leave the grieving people with clear instructions explaining what you want. This may prevent family arguments and keep a grieving family together at a time of stress. This plan can be in the form of a si...

Having read Being Mortal, I thought I could share my thoughts on it and how it impacted me. This book covers the really heavy subject of being mortal and navigates it with ease. The start of the book looks at our independence as we get older and then the frailties of ageing. It really sheds a lot of light on the complications and the subtle/drastic changes that happen as we get older. Atul uses his experience and relationships with his patients and colleagues, making it so clear and understandable for just about anyone to comprehend. This degree of information and insight into ageing, enables me to understand people who are advancing in age and to have a lot more compassion for them. Knowing the early signs and symptoms can really help, if you care to see them in those around you.  Atul also dispels a lot of myths around getting old and what we can expect. I think it's great to know about these changes and what to expect from a practical point of view. If for example;...

In early March 2020, Italy went into lockdown to try and contain the COVID-19 pandemic. The rest of Europe, at different intervals went into some form of lockdown. For me the idea of lockdown, being an introvert seemed great to start with, I mean more time to chill, do the things you want to do, meditation, yoga and house work, the list goes on and on! But having done this now for a few months, it's interesting to see how things have changed. At the start being around my partner way more than normal seemed difficult, not getting my usual space and while I was still going to work, unlike many others, I still found myself getting a bit groggy and pissy about small stuff. Now in late June, I'm really enjoying sharing my space with my partner as we both appear to have settled into this much more slower way of life. Frequently having time away from each other to get some space without feeling guilty has helped. On the other hand, when lockdown started I found myself going with ...

The subject of death has a really bad reputation, you hear a lot about how death is morbid and how depressing the subject is, but have you ever thought that the subject of death could have some positive life changing impacts, well it really can! I was once out at a restaurants with my partners friends and the conversations were so free flowing and me being me, I couldn't help but put my foot right in it, by starting to talk about death.  As you can imagine the flow of the conversation came to a pretty swift stop. This happens a lot with me and no matter how much I explain why the subject of death is good, the majority of people just can't seem to shake off that taboo feeling. I think it has become such a knee jerk reaction, that people just don't want to let it in. On some level I understand why this is, but when you look deeper there is so much more to the subject of death. For me death is an incredible subject and holds so many great possibilities, but in this blog p...

Where do you start with a topic as profound as death? Well here goes. Most people think Buddhists are pretty morbid, as we talk about death and impermanence a lot. As a Buddhist I have to agree, at least on the fact we talk and contemplate death and impermanence a lot. But studies have shown that Buddhists like Matthieu Ricard (Said to be the happiest man in the world) are indeed incredibly joyful and happy people. So why is it that they are so joyful and happy, if they think about death and impermanence a lot? Well from my understanding, thinking about death is incredibly scary, but what happens when the fear settles is that it can shift your perspective and can make you see life in a completely different way. For me, I've always woken up and got on with my day, planning my day, week, month, year and even years ahead. But day after day I still wake up thinking that I will reach the end of my day and this although normal, really isn't entirely true. It's logical to plan, I ...