Chapter 12 was quite an interesting
read. I myself am definitely a product of the 21st century United
States culture when it comes to death. I try not to think about or discuss it.
This chapter manages to blast the topic of death wide open. The text discusses
what death is and the four different types of death: clinical, brain,
biological, and social. I never really thought of there being more than one
kind of death. Not to sound insensitive but I always thought that dead was
dead. When a person’s heart stops beating for an extended amount of time, and
all medical attempts at reviving the person have failed, they are dead.
I
found the section on grieving very interesting. I have always found grief to be
a very complex emotion. The text talks about 3 specific types of grief:
anticipatory, delayed, and distorted. Each sounds just as painful and difficult
as the other. When I think about death/dying, I for some reason always think of
my father and his family. My father is from a family of 6 children and his two
parents. His parents passed away when I was very young. However since then, I
have watched my father bury 4 of his 5 siblings. In this time I have watched my
father and wondered about his grieving process. He always seemed to take it
much better than I would expect. After reading, I wonder if he perhaps may have
delayed grief. To be clear, my father genuinely mourned the passing of each of
his siblings, however not to the extent I expected.
I
fear that my father’s delayed grief may be released in the unfortunate event of
his eldest brother, and last surviving sibling passing. I take comfort in
knowing my father is a very religious person. He is a God-fearing man, who
lives each day for his faith and his family. In the reading, I found that
religion and spirituality, whichever you chose, could serve as a comforting
refuge for those who seek it. It gives us a sense that there is a greater plan
of a higher being.
I
think I avoid the thought of death because I am still young. I have so many
things in life I want to accomplish an experience before even thinking about
death. However, I know that the time will come when my loved ones will pass
away. Still… Not ready to think about that yet.
Hi Chris,
ReplyDeleteI too agree that dead is one of those things in life that shouldn't have "kind of" next to it - it's an absolute. Unfortunately modern medicine has caused us to define death differently and it's not always an absolute. To me, this just messes with our grieving process and can make it that much more difficult.
I have a few decades on you and when I was your age death wasn't something I ever entertained thinking about. I was fortunate that not many people in my family died until I was 27, then the flood gates opened and I've lost many people close to me since then. It seems to me that death, like other things, gets better accepted the more you experience it. And having faith, as your father does, can also make the accepting smoother.
Dr. Jones
ReplyDeleteI also greatly fear death and just try to not think or talk about it. when death comes up into conversation though i then become almost speechless. The thought of reincarnation is super scary although i guess that would be cool to be reincarnated as a polar bear or something. However, thinking about life after death is another instance. To think that we just will be nothing and our souls are gone really really scares me. I don't want to leave my loved ones. If there is life after death, that is the part the is just so intriguing. As you said though we are still young. So lets just keep on keeping on!
When it comes to thinking about death I am with you. It is something I try to keep far away from my thoughts and completely off of my mind. It is uncomfortable, and to be quite honest, scary to think about.
ReplyDeleteI feel my father was very similar to yours. When he had to bury his father and his share of cousins he always remained very calm and collected on the outside. I think it was his way of showing that he was going to be strong and be the rock for his family, especially for his sisters and mother when his father died. There is no doubt in my mind he was hurting and I am sure he grieved in his own way, but it wasn't the way that most people would envision grieving.