Jamie Goldstein
Writing II
Prompt #10
“I am not afraid of death, I just don’t want to be there when it happens” –Woody Allen
Death isn’t all that bad, it’s living that terrifies me. When we die, it’s just a simple exhalation, we breath out and our soul leaves us; our heart stops, and our brain dumps every last milligram of dopamine into our bloodstream. Meeting the reaper is a euphoric experience. That light at the end of the tunnel? It your brain comforting you, it’s been with you every moment of every day of your life, and now that you’re almost gone, it shows you a marvelous ending, a bright light to help you cope with the unimaginable end. Dying is easy. We were all dead long before we were born, and frankly, I can’t remember it being all that bad. It’s living that should be our dread.
Living is tough. We need to be successful, prominent, good. Hell, we need to be happy. Isn’t that biggest crock you’ve ever heard? You’re placed on this stupid little chunk of carbon and water, a place where seven billion other people are out to get you and you’re expected to beat the odds and find happiness? Death doesn’t sound so bad next to that challenge. Yes, the payout is nice, a spouse, maybe kids, material comfort, good friends, but what’s the point? You’re still going to die, and no matter who you are, no matter what you do, you will be forgotten. So maybe death isn’t all that bad, it’s really just a return to ease, a return to normalcy. When we go back to that infinite black soup of death, maybe we should not meet it with terror, but rather with open arms. After all it’s not death that terrifies me, it’s living.
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