Death

A few months ago, one of my colleagues died, while mountain climbing in Scotland. They said he had an heart attack….

Disbelief is probably the first reaction people have, when they hear such news. Now, I can’t deny it: I’m fascinated by death. Isn’t it strange that the most important event of human life is, in fact, its very end? Or perhaps it’s not even that important. There are many other interesting things about death, like the fact that it’s obscure, mysterious… and inevitable.

Today, I was caught surprised by another sad news. A person who I used to work with had died a few weeks ago in Italy.

Why do people travel so much these days?

The strange thing about death is that people’s reaction to it is not all about empathy; it’s also existential fear… fear of your own death. For one moment, you’re off guard. You’re faced with the senselessness and unpredictability of you life. A moment of insight and vulnerability, just before your damn barriers of denial take over again.

It feels strange that I just booked a ticket to Scotland… and Italy is on the schedule for August.

Read one of my other posts on death here.