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Enjoy the Beauty of Life, Embrace the Grace of Death

Kevin Farran
4 min readFeb 18, 2024

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To be or not to be; that is the question

Hamlet stares at the skull of Yorik
Photo taken by author, Barcelona park

Shakespeare’s phrase so often quoted, interpreted, and admired sprung to mind after reading a fine article with the engaging comments penned by Christine Schoenwald; My Mother has Paid a Huge Price for Living too Long. I had thought to comment on the article as well, but it became something else.

As humans we are blessed with the ability to gasp and grasp our first breath of what is often a beautiful journey of life, whether it is from a slap on the freshly arrived butt, or a fall on the head in a hollowed out dirt cavity on a cave floor, through millennia humans arrived with a screaming roar. Whether it is a yell of celebration, outraged interruption, or pain doesn’t concern me. It is a wonder to celebrate.

Why then did the powers that created the human experience, be they celestial or evolutionary, not allow for a complimentary departure?

Must it be our condition to wither into a reality devoid of the beauty of life when faced with the debilitating pain and a dissolved existence in death that robs us of our humanity. Why is there no process allowed by religion, society or our conscience, (ours or those of loved ones), to leave majestically toward another journey.

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Kevin Farran
Kevin Farran

Written by Kevin Farran

Kamakura based writer, lover of Great Danes, vintage cars, good red wine, bonsai and the Bard

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