Memento Mori

I had a rather interesting discussion with a friend yesterday regarding the important distinction between having no fear of death, and enjoying the active pursuit of death. A challenge I often encounter when claiming that I do not fear death, is that I should perhaps go kill myself right away, since I do not fear death and thus should be courageous enough to do so. Frankly, if I responded to that claim every time I encountered it, I would be dead many times over.

Since I am typing this, I am of this moment quite un-dead. I probably would remain so for some time, bar unforeseen circumstances, given the particular quirk of my bloodline. Regardless, I think it is important to distinguish between pursuing death and having no fear of it. For example, I may not fear the average passer-by, but it would be silly of me to "prove" that lack of fear by punching random people in the face. There really is nothing to prove here. In the case of pursuing death, I believe hypocrisy is readily proven by the simple fact that self-claimed pursuers of death are generally still alive when they speak of it, thus invalidating their claim. 'nuff said. On the flip side, however, I also believe that living life in the active evasion of death is equally foolhardy: one stops living for oneself and does so more for the sake of survival itself. Neither seems to me like a good way to live.

I believe memento mori is a pertinent philosophical guide here. One should learn to accept one's mortality. Life will end...sooner or later. Knowing so and accepting it frees oneself from the extremes of pursuing and avoiding death. Che sera sera and all that. That is when one can finally begin to truly appreciate life for what it is. To this I have received challenges before, that I should prove my lack of fear by proceeding to off myself. And to those challenges I say bollocks. If one needs to prove such a thing in the here and now, one is simply willing to go ahead while one still has the guts for it. I'd say the proof is in the pudding: I can find that out for myself in that undefined future when time finally catches up with me.