Memento mori redux

I return to what appears to be my favorite subject, death. And why not? We are all born to die. That is why we are called mortals. We begin the process of dying the moment we are conceived. The assembly of elements and energies that coalesce into a unique event that each one of us is, is just that, another opportunity for the life force to express itself, trying out different forms and activities. That life force is powered by natural selection and genetic programming.

In true fractal correspondence, or recursiveness, the evolutionary process itself evolves. The trajectory of evolution has shifted from mere genetic variation to memetic development. Natural selection has progressed to encompass the realm of ideas, those combinations that favor not mere survival, but optimal thriving. The bulk of the human species is, however, still operating at reptilian levels, responding to genetic programming to ensure physical survival. Those that have managed to transcend to postgenetic programing in the realm of memes, are yet mostly caught in early memes which tend to bolster the base survival mechanisms around food, sex, and status.

These primitive memes include tribal culture, religion, and my hobbyhorse, the monetary system. These tend to operate at the level of binary and magical thinking that sustains and reinforces themselves and each other. A delusional mythology is perpetrated so unconsciously and pervasively it becomes orthodoxy. Critical thinking, based on logic, rationality, objective evidence, and scientific inquiry are rare, if not actively discouraged. The fable of the Emperor's New Clothes is instructive.

These musings have been whirling around in my head for a while but setting them out was prompted by learning of the passing of Sharon Thomas, a singular event i was privileged to witness briefly when she and i were students of Religious Science at the Temple of Light in Kingston, Jamaica, some twenty-odd years ago. She was an angel, a boddhisattva, an emanation of Erzulie, or a singularity - choose the metaphor that matches your worldview - if ever there was one. Certainly her passing is an occasion of grief for her family and friends, each bringing their own hermeneutic response (HR) determined by their worldview, to the loss.

Some may resign themselves to God calling her home, taking back what was always his. Others that she is finally freed of suffering, resting in eternity after years of toiling in the vineyard. That dying on Good Friday indicates a special place in heaven. That she is reunited with her mother who predeceased her three years ago. That she has gone on to greater glory. You know them all and likely have used one or the other when offering condolences. These ready, often automatic, socially-sanctified responses allow us avoid facing fear and anxiety around our own mortality and inevitable death.

My own HR is that she has reverted to source, the elements of which her body was composed recycled back into circulation, never to reconstitute in that particular configuration again; the non-physical aspects revert to the undifferentiated ether, also not ever taking the particular concatenation that we know as Sharon. She has simply returned to what she was before she was born. My other takeaway is to appreciate individual life, my own and others'. I'm reminded to get done what i want to get done. This is the only opportunity to be just me, in just this way, just now, in all of eternity. This is the gift of life which most people choose to squander, caught up in genetically-programmed drives and postgenetic delusions.   

Memento mori

The knowledge that we will die burns out our attachments to the dignified madness of our socially constructed existence. Death is an ally that helps us to release our clinging to social position, material accumulation, and superficial desires as a source of ultimate security.
~ Duane Elgin, 1943- ~

Last year this time i was beset with a series of aches and pains which gave me cause for concern. Indeterminate chest pains triggered anxiety which fed on itself bringing me squarely face-to-face with my mortality. Having a family history of cardiovascular disease and hypertension only increased my dread. I lost my sister Lily just last May and have only one sibling left. Was my time coming up?

Then i seemed to recall these symptoms recurring each year at about this time and wondered if i might be experiencing Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). However, i was not depressed, depression being a classic sign of SADness — but somehow less sunlight seemed to be implicated. Further research on the internet led me to believe i was suffering instead from Vitamin D deficiency which is characterized by chest pain, particularly a tenderness in the area of the breast bone, bone pain even, and other symptoms that can mimic and exacerbate heart condition and hypertension.

Long story short, my lab results showed severe hypovitaminosis D which was treated with a megadose - 50,000 units per week for 4 weeks - of Vitamin D supplement. The symptoms all but disappeared. The cycle has started again this winter so i'm on another megadose. The cardiologist wanted to put me on statins because of a high LDL reading but i declined, prefering to use diet to address it. I increased intake of flax seed oil and meal, hemp seed meal and walnuts, all high in Omega-3s, combined with oats. My LDL level dropped back to normal limits. Now i only contend with pain related to arthritis and a frozen shoulder.

Ingredients for a tasty cholesterol-lowering holiday treat. For variations, use hemp seed meal in place of flax seed meal. A splash of rum with nutmeg gives it that festive taste.

If you live in temperate zones and/or do not spend much time outdoors, i suggest you have your Vitamin D level checked. The amount you may absorb from fortified milk is hardly adequate. Your physician may also not be up to speed on the latest Vitamin D research, so you may have some skepticism to contend with. It's your life, your body, you choose.

Rather than a morbid sense, these creeping signs of ageing and decrepitude are a memento mori that heightens my appreciation of life, of waking up to another day. It reinforces my resolve not to waste time on distractions and trivialities, but to make each moment count. This must be what they call the fierce urgency of now, knowing that there is so much to be done and little time to do it.

Death gives value, and in a sense almost infinite value, to our lives, and makes more urgent and attractive the task of using our lives to achieve something for others … which apparently embodies more or less what is called the meaning of life.
~ Karl R. Popper, 1902-1994 ~