Death is Not Normal

A few months ago, I attended a funeral celebrating the life of my aunt who died way too soon. Cancer took her life, leaving my uncle devastated in its wake.

Earlier this week, I attended a funeral celebrating the life of a friend who died way too soon. Aggressive brain cancer took her life, leaving her husband and children feeling the depths of her absence.

25 years ago, I attended a funeral celebrating the life of my best friend who died way too soon. Congenital heart disease took his life overnight, leaving friends and family confused and disoriented.

You could fill in your own stories of experiencing loss, of dealing with the death of a loved one, of mourning someone who left the land of the living earlier than expected.

There is something inside each and every one of us that knows, deep inside, that this isn’t the way things ought to be.

Does It Even Matter Anymore?

I was driving down the 210 Freeway the other day stuck in the state of unfettered joy that is Southern California rush hour traffic (don’t tell me you can’t relate). You know, the kind of traffic where texting while driving is probably legal; where you get the privilege of studying the nuances of any and all scratches, dents, or other blemishes in the cars around you; where your desire for listening to yet one more podcast about business, spiritual development, or anything else for that matter has died a slow and painful death; where all you want to do is move out to the prairie, learn a new dialect, and watch cows in the pasture.

And I don’t even like cows, which shows you how much I hate SoCal traffic.

nathanwestwick.com