When most of us think about dying,
We conjure up visuals of tombstones,
Graveyards,
And coffins.
And all of that makes perfectly good sense,
Especially given the references of death and dying given to us by the movies and the daily news.
When starting to think about the relationship you have with ideas of death and dying,
Begin to take note of what you see in your mind.
Because now,
We're going to get personal,
And we're about to go on a little journey.
When you think of death and dying,
What images do you see in your mind?
Where might these images have come from?
Are they from a movie or a book?
Are they maybe from a personal experience,
Perhaps witnessing someone else's death or dying process?
And before we go on,
Reminding yourself that you are safe.
And take the next few moments to check in with your body and how you feel about any visuals or feelings that show up.
There is no right or wrong to this.
We're just exploring our imaginations and how we associate mental imagery with an unknown experience which,
For many of us,
Can be quite hard to understand.
Okay,
That's enough of that.
We can put that behind us for the moment.
Now that we have thought about all of these culturally specific associations with death and dying,
Let's try something different.
In your imagination,
Spend the next few moments picturing what you might want to see when thinking about death and dying.
Given the choice,
What could death and dying in your ideal world look like?
This could be specific to your own death or a more general idea of death and dying.
Does it look different than what you know of now?
Are there elements of beauty,
Reverence,
Humor,
Or surprise?
Here's the cool thing in thinking about death.
Since none of us really know what it's like,
Our own imaginations are just as possible as anything else.
Who are we to say that death needs to be cobwebs and mortuaries?
And when you're ready,
Coming back and reorienting yourself in this moment.
To do this,
Focus on something beautiful in your mind or in your line of sight and simply settle into the luxury of witnessing beauty.
And to conclude,
Tell yourself,
Just as we're telling you right now,
You are experiencing this moment here and very much uniquely alive.
