Mourning Life, Celebrating Death

Yes, you read the title correctly. Mourning life and celebrating death. A few years ago I saw an interview with a very well known Hollywood actor where he discussed the embracing of change. And not the kind of change you excitedly anticipate like starting a new job, or moving to a new city, or dating a new crush. He meant embracing uncomfortable change -- the kind of change that you wish would just go away. The kind you never asked for and would rather not deal with.

He was, in essence, describing the peaks and valleys we all experience, as a series of life and death cycles -- that life was full of these cycles and that as human beings, we can find ourselves celebrating death and mourning life instead of accepting our circumstance as another sequel in the series. Here's some examples of what he meant.

How many times have you looked back at a time in your life and wished for that moment again because what you currently have just isn't cutting it? You know the thoughts -- I wish life could just be simple again; I wish I could go back to being a kid again, then I wouldn't have to worry about paying these bills. Or you think: It would be nice if we could go out again the way we used to before we had kids. And then there's the classic: why did I ever let him go?

This is how we celebrate death: we try to resurrect that which has long been buried.

And then the mourning -- the wishing away of life. It goes like this: why do I have to go through this? Why can't I just be done with it already? When am I ever going to have some time for myself again? Why did this have to happen?

We want the uneasiness of life to die before it ever has a chance to live. To develop. To mature us. To give us a new experience.

Can we embrace uncomfortable change as an opportunity to grow? What if, instead of wishing away the pain, the loss, the emptiness in our heart -- what if, instead, of seeing it as an uncomfortable change to mourn -- what if we allowed it to spark new life in us? What if we could, in all of its difficulty, celebrate it instead?



This post is dedicated to the loving memory of Linda Daniels. May your family, especially your husband and children, find the strength to embrace life even in the midst of your untimely passing.