Look it’s a blessing. You’re emerging from the adolescent “I’m immortal” delusion, which is what gives us our yearly quota of mangled dead teenagers in totally avoidable car accidents. I know, I know, teenagers know they’re going to die, but they don’t *know * it. The only way to know it is to endure some traumatic experiences or go through the inevitable series of 3 a.m. unpleasant realizations.
You will die. It may be painful. It may be very soon. It may be very sudden. It won’t be terribly long. Life goes fast. It speeds up the older you get. And people die all the time for no reason at all. Your body will rot. You will lose everything you’ve ever had. You and everything you’ve done will most likely be totally forgotten not long after you’re dead. And will certainly be forgotten eventually. Same with your friends and family.
It’s a good thing to feel. It should change how you look at yourself and the world. It tends to make people less stupid in all sorts of ways.
But it’s no excuse for avoiding picking a college.
Ok my friend and I were discussing this last night. He’s afraid of aging - but I pointed out that really, he’s afraid of death. He agreed. My point is that fearing aging makes no sense - if all he’s really afraid of is nearing the end of life - since we can die at any time - age 2, age 30, age 60, age 90. But I don’t know. I’m a hypocrit I guess because I am afraid of death myself - I just feel like I have not done enough that I want to do in life and I’m so worried I’ll die before I’m able to. :smack:
I have the same thinking as csharpmajor too, back when I was 3 or 4. I had a dreamt – a dream that everyone in the world died (at that time, I thought there was only about 100 people in the world) and I was looking over their graves. Ever since, sometimes I kept thinking about the issue.
You know, I have realised that most of you will probably die before me.
It’s kinda mean, and kinda twisted, but also kinda comforting.
I have finished doing my preferences. Everything I want to do has abysmally low cut-offs. It will probably be hard to obtain those minimum marks without getting a failing average, and therefore not being able to go on to university at all. It will probably be harder to get into community college than university. Yes, I am an art student; why do you ask?
Yep. And it’s all pretty amazing. We are star stuff, so we are in effect immortal. And how lucky our molecules have been to be part of what may be the only evolutionary process in the universe. And even luckier that we are the only organism (that we know of) that evolved the capacity to contemplate its own origins. Sad that you’re dying? Bah, I say! Happy to be alive!
# # # #
# # #, I don’t think you can ever really put a thought out of your mind. It’s like trying not to think of a green elephant. The best you can do is deal with it, and learn to live with it. The obsessive thoughts will eventually go away on their own, and one day you’ll wake up and think “Hey, it’s been three years since I thought about death.”
Read books. There is no better way to forget about your own problems and fears than by immersing yourself in other peoples. If you want an interesting viewpoint on your own existance, read Illusions by Richard Bach. It always works for me.
Another way to look at it is that you were “dead” for most of the billions of years that the universe has been around. I doubt you have unfond memories of it. This life is just a stumbling block before returning you to your rightful state.
cut off your head
shut up your face
here is the time
now is the place
cut off your head
why should you wait
don’t think about it
it’s much too late
well, it’s been a lot of work but now I’m
right back where I used to be
surrounded by the stupid things I had before I started out
the Dixie cups, the Tonka trucks, the Action Jackson figurines
the motorcycle wouldn’t go - not even when you pulled the string
the comic books I didn’t read - too stupid for me even then
the light bulb oven wouldn’t cook the pasty stuff in little tins
the woolen shorts, the clamp on skates
the duck, the duck, the duck, the goose
the busted nose, the broken eardrum,
falling off the skateboard hands
the plasticine, the orange aspirin, play-doh crud in little cans
keep coming back in different combinations
cut off your head
don’t hesitate
do it today
it’s great
throw out your brains
they’re a disease
cut off your head
think with your knees
you’ve tattooed all your body parts and pierced your lip
and pierced your nose
and bolted this and branded that and done the drugs
and done your friends
and done the friends of other friends
so why not try some amputation
you can feel so stupid when it’s over
the ratna, padma, karma, vajra, Buddha are all in all o.k.
there is a pain, there is a cause, there is a goal, there is a way -
YOU KNOW THE WAY!
cut off your head
do it yourself
don’t ask a friend
that’s gross
use a big knife
that cuts both ways
open your heart
cut off your head
Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I sure feel better!
Seriously, csharp, one of the things that helps me when I get a case of the mortals is the phrase, “There is no absolute certainty.” Nobody knows. You never will know. Some stuff, you just have to put back on the shelf without figuring it out.
Another ponderable - every craps. The sexiest, most famous person you can think of - just imagine them on the shitter with a magazine. The Queen of England, George W., that cute guy or girl, everybody. Heh.
featherlou, sitting here all naked under my clothes
