☠️How death awareness improves your life⚰️
Imagine this:
You’re visiting your favorite open-air market in some sprawling village in a coastal town in Somewhere, Somewhere.
As you walk along–vaguely aware of the magnificent colors of mango, papaya, coconut, and endless seas of green leaves of lettuce, kale, and collards–you notice a strange man.
His dark hat can’t hide the fact that his gaze keeps catching yours, though passing cars, families, and other street walkers flickered between your face and his–the gaze remained.
And on with your day. Some more fruits, some more vegetables.
Grab a hot cup of organic coffee. Complain a little about your work, about that stubbed toe, and whoa!
Across the market you see this beautiful woman. Exactly the kind of person you’d want to spend time with–doing just about anything at all.
Her gaze catches yours, and your heart races, ready to explode!
And then, your huge smile caves in like a landslide across your cheeks, as you remember the embarrassment, the pit of your stomach twisting into knots, you’ve already lost her in the crowd, but you’ll never really let her go…
Just like all the times you really wanted to do something, but your thinking mind convinced you to identify with the victim thoughts squatting in the attic of your mind.
So finally, as you sit there sipping your coffee, staring at the pavement in the sidewalk, lamenting all the things you wish you had the guts to do but never seem to happen for you-
-starting a business,
-doing more art
-going on hikes
-fishing and camping
-trips to the woods with friends or alone
-talking to strangers
-connecting with fascinating and magnificent people
-adventuring into strange new situations.
-feeling happy when you wake up in the morning.
-remember that it all ends really fucking quickly…
You never really know.
Fifty more? Eighty more? Five minutes more?
So the guy comes walking up to you. The one with the black hat on.
You barely notice him in your pitiful inward state, just like you didn’t notice the magnolia blossoms above, showering you in a sweet scent of Spring.
Remember when I said that EVERY experience you have is both the first and last time you’re having that experience?
So he gets closer, takes off his hat, taps you on the left shoulder, and whispers in your ear…
“Time to go, sir.”
POOF!
Game over.
That’s one of the ways certain traditions think of death–as a person who emerges from the crowd, taps you on the shoulder, and gives you the final call.
Wham!
I love that perspective, because when I learned of it, I immediately saw the extreme value of it.
Instead of getting lost in the whims and whines of the character you’ve always been convinced is really you–you’ll start waking up to the mysterious and beautiful reality all around you that you’ve been missing.
For now, I want to give you the Death Awareness exercise.
- Go to a public place, like a farmer’s market, or other similar location.
- Find a nice place to sit amidst all the people.
- Know that death is there somewhere, haunting one of the people.
- Stay in that state for as long as you possibly can hold it.
- Repeat in every public space you ever inhabit.
Make a few notes after each actual practice of the exercise. If you do it for 30 minutes the first few days in a row, that should give you enough momentum to shorten it to 5 minutes per day to keep your mind focused, aware, and paying attention!
Remember, you can’t get away from death or avoid it, so if you’re feeling afraid, you haven’t gone deeply enough.
So why is this confrontation with death so important?
Because all the excuses you made to hide yourself from being wounded, from feeling scared, from feeling exposed, from being fully human, from being fully loved, from fully loving, from fully losing and learning how to let go with joy and ease, from connecting deeply and permanently with the organic flow of your life–all of these excuses keep you from your natural birthright of:
-Joy
-Spontaneous expression
-Deep belly laughs
-Magnetic attraction to adventures you love
-A radiant and expansive sense of self
-Relaxed, confident authenticity to your very core.
If you couple the daily death awareness practice with the weekly group Radical Undoing sessions, you might just find yourself able to access the “flow state,” anytime you want it.
Get in on the group here:
radicalundoing.com/ngf-weekly/
Best,
-Garrett
PS: reply and let me know how the Death Awareness experience goes for you.
