About Me

Friday, June 22, 2007

Death...

It's always strange, it resuscitates a certain feeling, I do not know how to describe it, but I certainly know how it is like. It incarnates your deepest fear and exploit your unresolved issues, it doesn't matter who is dead or how old, it doesn't even matter if you knew that person or not. Some put it like a long period of sleep, but it's a wake up call, a wake up for everything that you put on halt, for everything you buried in the sand, things you didn't want to be reminded of, things that confuse you, it reveals unanswered questions, or maybe ones with the most undesirable answer...

Old people always find a consolation when they describe the funeral to be "the best" one could have, nice, and full of people, or the food to be great, trying to put their scare aside.
Funerals aren't always the same though, old people exits are usually calm with not many words to say, they weren't needed, pretty useless, and sick anyway...It's a great chance to mention how great they were and fake some stories, spicing things up with some drama, such as loneliness, inheritance issues, people who didn't show up, revealing the dark secrets that should be kept in order to keep stains away from the glorified images built through countless speeches throughout the process. There'll always be those nosy people, who always ask questions, that no one is ready to answer, some are in grief but those have come to collect stories and make up tales.

It is creepy and it freaks me out, you wonder, and bang your head into the wall with millions of questions without an answer, one thing you know, is that the dead are gone for good. You'll never see them, speak to them or hear from them again. You want to know how it feels, you want to know if it inflicts pain, you want to know what is it, you want to understand the mechanism. Unfortunately no one comes back to tell you what were they got into, or what were they doing.

No matter how many times it comes near you, it always trigger you, you never become familiar with such a thing, that you know nothing about, that deprives you of the people you know and often love, that sends chills down your spine, that leaves you shattered in grief, or perplexed with inexplicable emotions.

It always angers you; the feeling of being toyed with, of building castles and having God to destroy them, you feel manipulated and helpless, why did you do that, and how could you hurt me like that, you get to calm down a bit later and repeat Einstein's famous cliche: "God does not play dice." If you believe that he's there, it's all for the good. Later you feel that you were given the gift to outsmart yourself and understand what was the good about it and why it has happened. The fact is that it happens because it just is, here's no way you could think of to make it sound better.

It could be a plan executed with precision, described by the fact that it was the permanent end of a biological organism, could be earlier due to the effects of wear or rust, or that it is the permanent separation of body and soul. One thing I know for sure, I don't want to die before getting an answer to my questions, before reaching what I seek in this life. I don't want to die with the desire to live, I don't want to die unless I am attracted by the myth of what is going to happen next, I want to die when I am done.

The pain always comes from those who are still alive, people get worried for what and who they can still see, but no one said it's going to be easier for the dead.

I conclude with this line:
"Death is certain, since it is inevitable, but also uncertain, since its diagnosis is sometimes fallible"

Jacques-Benigne Winslow, Danish Anatomist: Morte incertae signa, 1740

May you rest in peace.

4 comments:

karakib said...

اولا اخر جملتين قريتهم انك مش عايزة تموتي برغبة الحياة بداخلك
فده ما بيحصلش الا قليل اوي
لأنه رغبة الحياة او غريزة البقاء نفسها قوية جدا في كل المخلوقات
قريب اوي شفت واحد عنده حوالي 26 سنه كان بيموت لأنه كان شارب مخدرات
الغريب انه كان بينازع بشكل مفزع
كان جسمه ساقع و عرقان و الدكتور لما جه قاس نبضه و كان واضح كم الانزعاج علي وش الدكتور و هو بيطلب انه يتنقل المستشفي بسرعة لأنه مافيش حل
المهم انه وصل المستشفي تقريبا لا يتنفس
و الاغرب انه و هو بينازع قال للناس قبل ما يغيب عن الوعي و قبل ما اشوفه لأني ما روحتش الا بعدها انه مش هايموت و انه مش عايز يموت .. كان عايز يعيش .. و عاش
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بالنسبة للناس الكبار فهم بيخافوا من الموت ... اتنين في حياتي من الناس الكبيرة دي قدرت اخترق الحواجز و اسمع منهم او افهم الموت بالنسبة لهم ايه
الاول كان جدي الله يرحمه
كان بيحب الحياة اوي و من الناس اللي بتتذوق الاكل بجد .. من الناس اللي لازم تلبس حلو اوي طول الوقت ببدلة و كرافات و جزمة عاملة زي المرايا
كان بيحب الحياة لكن مع فقدانه لأول الحواس و في رأيي اهمها
اللي هي السمع بدأ تدريجيا ينفصل عن الناس و يشعر بالملل و لأنه كان قوي في شبابه رفض فكرة انه يحط سماعة ... و انه مش سامع .. لأ يمكن كان بيقول الناس صوتها واطي او حتي مش عايز اسمع و لا اني احط سماعة
و بعد فترة فقد حواس تانيه زي التذوق و الشم و تباعا كل حواسه ضعفت قوي و فقد حبه للحياه
و مات
اما الشخص التاني فهي ست كبيرة عندنا فالعيلة ربنا يدي لها طولة العمر
مرة كنا قاعدين في مصيف فالبلكونة لوحدينا و بدأت تاخد راحتها بعد فاصل من الضحك و قالت كلام برضه ما قدرتش ادركه كله ساعتها
قالت لي انه كل ما الواحد بيكبر بيخاف ينام لأنه ممكن يموت و هو نايم .. الفكرة دي بتتضخم عند الكبار بشكل قوي و لو تلاحظي كل الكبار بيناموا ساعات قليلة اوي بالليل و يصحوا بدري اوي غصب عنهم لأنه اللاوعي بيقول لهم ممكن تموتوا و انتم نايمين
و ده لاحظته من ضمن حاجات كتير بعد ما سمعت الست دي و هي بتتكلم و تقول اعترافات كانت بالنسبة لي معلومات جديدة
وجودهم فالجنازات ده برضه بيطمنهم علي نفسهم بيحسسهم انهم لسه موجودين و لهم دور فالحياة و ده اهم حاجة لأنه لو مش موجود بيقتل حتي لو كان صاحب الشعور شاب مش كهل عجوز
و بيقعدوا يقولوا ده اصله كان كبير مع انه الفرق بينهم ممكن ما يعديش ال5 سنين
المجهول اللي هو ما بعد الموت بيخوف اوي
مهما كان الايمان قوي او ضعيف لكن ما بعد الموت مجهول
و كل ما هو مظلم معتم مجهول هو مخيف مفزع يصيب بالتوتر و القلق بمجرد التفكير فيه
اخيرا اقول لك مقولة قالها لي احد الاباء اليسوعيين من شهر
كان بيحكي عن فن الكلام و السفسطائية
و قال انه في واحد من علمائه مرة قال
انا لا اخاف الموت لأنه لا يدركني و أن ادركني فلن اكون موجود
اذن فالموت لا يعرفني و انا لا اعرفه
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طاهر خشاب / Taher Khachab said...

Hi.

Two are the things I noticed most. The question of death and the Other People. Now a days I got used not to demand any more about death and rather it's right or wrong. This is maybe because of the terrible war I lived along in Lebanon. You can't imagine how many people I lost without an acceptable cause. It's unfaith but I can't use any other term Acceptable Cause. The suffer in that case is hundred times harder believe me.
It's beautiful the way you think about life and how you like to live it. Keep on loving your self like this and keep on demanding for the sake of demanding, our life is a big Question Point, Sometimes I feel that most of what we discover is a big Explanation Mark. Any way about the others, old or young no matter, I feel to mention the last sentence from "No Exit" J. P. Sartre "Hell is Other People".

Good to meet you and tell next time.

Racha said...

Karakib, nazret el 3awaguiz lelmot betefre2 3ala 7assab 7aletehom, ya3ni guedetio men 5 senin kan momken teb2a mar3ooba men el fekra di, kanet 3ayesha 7ayateha, le3'ayet lama 7assaletlaha 7adessa 7abasseteha fel bet, maba2ash leha 7ayateha, ba2et 7ayatea waraha we elli 2odameha 7ayat weladeha(elli emnehom wa7ed mat) we a7efadeha we awelad a7efadeha, e7'wateha mato we so7abeha elli mamatesh menehom 2. We 3andohom nafess el mashakel fel 7araka. 7ayateha betlef we tedoor, tool el nehar nayema aw sa7ya aw matefehamesh, 3ashan keda mesh betnam, mesh 3ashan 7'ayefa abs 3ashan heya tool el yom keda, la nayema wala sa7ya, la 3ayesha wala mayetta.

Straniero,
Thank you for dropping by and leaving a comment.
I am sorry for you my friend, war is terrible and nothing about it could be termed acceptable.
Sartre is somewhat right, not complete but quite right

طاهر خشاب / Taher Khachab said...

Bello sapere che parli anche Italiano
teniamoci in contatto