In preparation....

Until recently, I have only ever been able to view death as an instant moment in the time of someone's life. Never have I been able to put into perspective the thought of having to prepare oneself for an oncoming end to their life.

What goes through a person's mind when their life has been given an expiration date?

Socrates approached death calmly, it would seem, viewing it as a coming enlightenment of the soul. We are not all Socrates though. Sometimes we do not have the freedom of time to accept death with open arms and an open mind. However, when we do... how will we handle our death?

My roommate recently experienced an uncle passing away. I found his situation to be interesting. Originally, this man was given about 6 months to live. Then something dire, that I cannot recall, occured and he had only days to live. Within those final days, my friend called me several times for support. He had never seen anything die before and was terrified with what that would be like to watch , if he happened to be in the room. Thankfully, my friend never had to experience that. His uncle was discharged from the hospital and sent home. There, he was able to fill out his final moments in this life as he saw fit. And what does he do? He watches Godfather I-III twice, eats his fill of hamburgers (as he was denied them in the hospital), and sat in view of his beloved orange grove. What went through his mind when he was given his expiration date? How did he prepare his mind for death? Was he simply happy with how life had gone up to that point? Did he not think that his cancer was robbing him of any precious moments to come? Life experiences missed out on? Did he wonder where he would go? Or was he happy to just be, until he was no more?

Returning to my roommate's terror in the possibility of watching someone die, honestly, what would it be like to watch a soul leave a body? I find the whole idea as terrifying as my roommate did. The entire experience caused him to question the possibilities of the immortal soul and life
after death. Do they exist? This question was at the forefront of his mind for the beginning of this semester, and mine as well.

Another friend of mine witnessed the life of Errol, the recent victim of the shooting outside Friar Tuck's bar, pass from this world. Not the moment of death, mind you, but saw him before and after he died in the arms of the bartender who held his head in her lap during his final moments.
He said the experience put into perspective his own mortality as well as the immortality of the soul.

I personally have a strong belief in the immortality of the soul. If I weren't seeing out these eyes that I have, what eyes would I be looking out of?
When bringing in the Cyclical argument addressed in Phaedo, questions come into mind. If the soul brings life into a body, can one soul be individual from another soul? Is the personality of an individual imprinted upon a soul and passed on in some way? Or is a new soul formed upon conception?

Some songs that were thought provoking during the course of this blog...

Long Time Traveller
The Wailin' Jennys

This is a soung about passing from this life to the next. Where do souls go?
First verse:

"These fleeting charms of Earth, farewell , your springs of joy are dry. My soul now seeks another home, a brighter world on high."

What Is A Soul?
M Ward

I couldn't find a recording of the song online, but I attached the lyrics. Essentially, questions about the nature of the soul are addressed here.