Apathy Toward DeathEverybody DiesBeing Apathetic is commonly looked down upon. Apathy is often thought to mean not caring about anything, and fleeting. Since it happens to also be a symptom of many mental illnesses, it's also thought that if you are completely apathetic, you will always be sad.
But Apathy isn't so bad. Being only partially uncaring has its strengths. You can, for example, walk into a scary movie, and since you don't care about it, you won't be scared by anything. It's very useful on dates, if you're not scared but your partner is =p.
Anyway, another apathy I have dealt with is apathy toward death. As everyone should know, you will not live forever. Being a Determinist Nihilist, perhaps I have a crappy view on things. But consider this:
Everytime someone near to you dies and you weep for an excessive period of time, some other signifigant person in your life will say "[dead person] would've wanted you to go on in your life and be happy."
So why do we not do this from the beginning?
For me, weeping can be a very good stress release, but it also dehydrates me almost to the point of needing medical attention. The amount of water and liquids I must drink after crying is almost not worth crying at all.
I am a very apathetic person, so when my great-grandfather died, I did nothing. My parents, who I was living with at the time, dissmissed it because I did not know him that well. My great-grandfather's death was like any other day to me, albeit some forced praying (my family is Christian) forced upon me.
Someone much closer to me died several years later: My great-grandmother. I was actually yelled at for not caring. It was brought up at one point that I should get even more psychological help than I already had, because I didn't want to fly to New York to go to a funeral. Frankly, I was happy that my Great-GM died. She was having a horrible life in the nursing home. But I didn't tell my family that, lest I be ushered into more counseling.
Then, a close friend of mine was bludgeoned to death with his mother. It got to the point where I asked, "Why do people go to funerals? It's a waste of money."
If you think about this, the statement is true, regardless if you think I am crazy or not. Caskets and gravestones are outrageous. Combine that with a funeral service, and even with life insurance you're probably going to end up in debt.
My friend was kind, and instead of saying something about how stupid I was, she said, "For closure."
Closure?
If you get word that someone is dead, and simply cannot believe it, then yes, by all means, go to a funeral or see the body.
But if you know the person is dead... Why go? Why weep?
A famous poem "I Heard a fly Buzz-When I died-" was all about how a woman was on her deathbed, people surrounding her, and then this fly comes in.
It's outrageous buzzing attracts everyone's attention, and it ends up that the woman's last thought before death took her was about a green, annoying fly.
This symbolizes that life goes on. Nature doesn't care if your mother dies. Nature does not care that your brother dies.
Everyone will die, everyone dies die, so why do you weep and mourn and say "Why?" It's something I never understood.
It's impossible for them to come back. And if you really needed them, you could always kill yourself and join them-if you believe in that.
I look at death as the circle of life. If someone you don't know dies, do you care? Usually not. So why not have that same feeling for someone close to you?
Surely, if you were leaning upon them so heavily when they were alive, their death is good for you; a learning process. It's the bird pushing her baby out of the nest and saying "Learn how to fly."
You have been dying from the moment you were born, and you should not try to stop the inevitable.
You attempting to cheat death is like standing infront of a roboticized bullet-train and trying to stop it with your bare hands.
You will not succeed.