Do people die?
It seems a stupid question to ask when people “die” every day.
“Of course, people die!” might come as a reply in your head. There are accidents, heart attacks, plane crashes, fights turned murder, stalkers turned killers, a pandemic, cancer and a host of other rising statistics on the many things causing death to people all over the world. People die daily, so what is this stupid question I am asking…
In that case, I am forced to rephrase the question –
Do people really die?
Before your brain gets all riled up, take time to think on the lexical addition making up this question. Note too that this is not a statement of fact but a question. It is a question that popped into my head as I thought and thought about the concept of death at different points in my lifetime – in the throes of sickness, in the course of a surgery, in a period of hunger, at times when I thought about my life and pondered on existence, when I hear the news of another person down from something terminal, when I think about the fact that how we live is dependent on the whims of helpless sheets of paper. It is a question I have had to tinker on for a long time and which has led to a semblance of an answer.
My answer is this: some people die and some people cease to exist.
This is because “to die” implies that one has “lived”. In essence, to say that a person has “died” means that we are struck with the inevitable question, “did they live?” If they have not “lived” then, they just ceased to exist but if they have “lived” then, they truly “died”.
Still, how do we measure living? After all, there are many measurements to this thing called Life.
For some, life is living as brightly as the sun in the sky. They shine and they cannot go unnoticed in this world, no matter how they choose to move. They are created in such a way that they stand out. It could be in how they move, speak, cook, bake, write, lead, battle, fight, act, sing, heal and so on. Their lives ring a bell so loud that, at their “death”, all the blogs; papers; news reels; tweets and trending topics will scream their name.
For some others, life is simply becoming all that they were made to be, which could translate to the above or a quiet life. The beauty in this space is that their lives touch other lives and create an impact that outlives them. They may or may not shine as brightly but they use whatever is in their hands well. Hence, when they leave, the lives they touched do not just scream, they mourn.
For another group of people, living is survival, at whatever cost. In other words, they strive to be their best even if it means destroying others: instigating wars, poisoning minds and conversations, maligning others, plotting evil, dripping greed, watching the discord they planted from the fringes and collecting and collecting, draining others like parasites. Some do it so well, they kill while looking like saviours. Hence, when these sets of people leave, some who do not know them mourn but others breathe a sigh of relief that they ceased to exist, it feels like an act of kindness.
For yet another set of people, it feels like an insult to associate them with life, warped examples of existence. They exist to cause trauma just because they have freewill: rapists of every form that do not disintegrate from their wickedness within, oppressors, killers, the ones that add that ingredient that only increases outbreaks and sickness, those who plunder others to create generational poverty but who live in extreme wealth, the corrupt, the evil and those that exist as a pain on the living and existence of others. History always remembers them but their lives leave so much bitterness such that even death is loath to take them. Hence, the saying, “evil people do not die easily.
To me, true living lies in the second example and this might be a cause to smile, even though it is death we speak about. When you see that person you knew – eyes closed, breath snuffed out and you feel that rolling ache and pain inside. Recognise it for what it really is. It means that they died, that their life touched yours, their exit hurts, their memories ring in your mind and heart and if you could turn time back, you would. All these emotions exist because of one fact – they truly lived.
Still, this question is really directed at introspection. If your time to exit comes today, would you really die? Or, would you just cease to exist?
That answer is one that only you can give…
Azar…
Azar... 