The Elephant in the Room

I’ve noticed that there’s being more open discussions about death these days, not enough to turn the world on its head,  but there’s a discernible increase in the number of conversations going on either in the media, between friends and in public in general.

Topics range from end of life care, different types of funeral arrangements, how to talk to kids about death, caring for the terminally ill, assisted suicide or euthanasia but they all stop short of addressing the obvious.

The elephant in the room. What happens after we die?

I’ve read a few ‘manuals’ on how to caregive to the terminally ill, the stages of physical death etc but again they all stop short of asking or addressing the big question, the one thing that could be playing on the dying person’s mind… ‘what the fuck am I in for?” Actually I often read that the topic of what happens after death shouldn’t be discussed as it may upset the person or run in conflict with their belief system. I understand you shouldn’t force any belief system on someone, but I feel there’s nothing wrong with asking the initial question so people are less likely to die without their biggest questions or fears being heard or acknowledged.

To tell you the truth I don’t know where my passion for this topic has come from. I have no professional experience with dying people, I’m not a hospice worker, I don’t work in palliative care, I’m not even in the medical profession, in fact I’m in advertising and that’s about as far removed from exploring death and dying as you can get. However I have an insatiable desire to learn, know and experience all there is to death and the afterlife and …. ironically this is when I feel more ‘alive’. Between writing advertising campaigns for clients, you’ll find me watching Youtube videos on death and dying, reading books on reincarnation, researching NDE’s and at night I’m practicing Out of Body Experiences and Lucid Dreaming.

After I had the privilege to document my journey in the book Dying to Know – is there life after death? I’ve found that effects of some of the experiences have stayed with me and I feel somewhat changed on the inside and more motivated than ever to push on further with the journey.

I have no idea of what shape or form the journey or quest will take, I’ll just have to have to wait to the book is out on the shelves and see where it leads. Hopefully I’ll be able to add to the second part on the discussion on death… what happens afterwards.