Life and Death

Death. Death. Death. Death. Death. Death. Death. Death. Death. Death. Death. Death. Death. Death. Death. Death. Death. Death. Death. Death. Death. Death. Death. Death. Death. Death. Death. Death. Death. Death. Death. Death. Death. Death. Death.
Some day – maybe tomorrow, maybe next year, maybe in 40 years or 80 years – our physical body will die. We don’t know when or how it will happen but it will happen.
I’m in the second half of my 20s and have recently developed this awareness that life is this very moment. And this very moment. And this one. Honestly, it’s freaking me out a little bit.
When I was in my early teens, my aunt, grandmother, and grandfather died within a year and half of each other. (#FuckCancer) It’s safe to say that those moments – them being sick, family members caring for them, them getting sicker, them dying  – drastically changed my outlook on life.
Recently, my friend’s dad died, my friend’s grandmother died, and my friend died. (These are all different people and they don’t know each other. Friend is all encompassing: coworkers, acquaintances, friends, etc.) A friend’s son died, my friend’s brother died, another friend died. Some of these people were in their early 20s, others were in their 70s. Some I only met once, some I have never met. And yet my heart aches for each of these people. My heart aches for the families.
I’m so incredibly fascinated by the complexities of human beings. Often, it’s hard for us to keep in touch regularly, be kind to each other, make time to see each other, or respond to a “thinking of you text”.
But, as soon as someone dies, we reach out, check in, get coffee, slow down, reconnect. I use ‘we’ because I’m guilty of this, too. It’s something that drives me absolutely crazy about the way we work as a species. We get so caught up in our life, our day to day hustle, that we forget that the most important thing in life is connecting with others on a meaningful level. 
As I’m writing this from one of my favorite local coffee shops, conversation has started with the people at the table next to me and the people at the table next to them. Five people who may have never met each other (besides the 2 sets who already knew each other) if it weren’t for being at this coffee shop at this moment. Middle-table friends were talking about travel which piqued my interested and end-table overheard us talking about Japan and jumped in. Such a simple connection but it’s made my day (and week) brighter.
Back to talking about death.
I recently discovered Death Cafe and will be checking out one of their local cafes in the coming weeks. Still being a relatively taboo subject, I’m quite intrigued by an event that’s sole purpose is to talk about death and everything around it. I’ll let you know how it goes…
Not knowing when our time will come means we have to live fully and openly, say what needs to be said, work through the pain that will arise, and enjoy every moment.