What we are most concerned with

The biggest moments in our lives,

are of course when we graduate, get that job, you know, big changes.

But the biggest changes of all, are when someone we care about dies.

And everybody goes into this absolute fit of a nightmare over it.

Oh shit* they think.

Possibly this is because of the insane importance we place on the people in our lives. In essence, our lives *are the people in it. It’s funny because the moment people aren’t around, the money in your pocket is just paper.

Now another fascinating point is when death occurs, people all of a sudden become religious philosophers or something.

John: “Hey wait a second, Joe my neighbour, whom I loved so dearly, and always popped in to say hello, is … wait for it… dead?”

Joanne: “Well honey he was old! These things are natural.”

John: “No. I refuse to accept it. Where could he have gone?”

Joanne: “Well he’s dead sweetheart. He’s in the cemetery.”

John: “Ye with little faith! Joe our neighbour was here one second. And gone another. He isn’t in the cemetery. He’s in the ether!”

Now again, what’s so interesting about this question is the demarcation line between a) life and b) death. If Joe was here one second, and gone the next, where did he go? The easy answer is he went somewhere. The Joe we knew is gone, but his soul is off somewhere else.

In my view, the question is not flawed. It is a valid thing to ask.

However, the area of focus is wrong. The better question isn’t where Joe went. The better question is why in the hell was a thing like Joe here in the first place?