Facing Death

robinvan

It seemed timely, in light of our conversation here, for me to repost a reflection on "Facing Death" in my blog. "A Cancer Journal"
http://rob-pollock.blogspot.com/

In doing so, I picked up on a scene from David Guterson's "Snow Falling on Cedars". A wonderful novel set in the Pacific Northwest during and after WW 2. In this scene the young Japanese girl Hatsue is learning about death from one of her wise elders. A simple lesson of life found in an Autumn leaf on a Fall day.

Facing Death is certainly a bigger part of my consciousness now than it has been in recent times. I quess there have been 3 times now where it has felt particularly close. Original diagnosis (Aug 2004), 1st recurrence (2007), and now this (Fall 2009).

There is also a wonderful video clip on "cultivating gratitude" posted yesterday, Canadian Thanksgiving, which makes for a good start to any day!

Peace and blessings... Rob; in Vancouver

“There is no cure for birth and death,
save to enjoy the interval.”
George Santayana (1863 - 1952)

lesvanb

snow falling on cedars
Thanks for the reminder of that book Rob, I read it many years ago and enjoyed it a lot. I just recently saw the documentary of Ram Dass after his stroke called Fierce Grace. In it he mentions a book he's written since his stroke called Still Here. It's excellent, and has been very helpful to me right now.

all the best, Leslie

PS I really like the Santayana quote (goes well with birth has a poor prognosis)