Wednesday, December 8, 2010

HW 21 - Excerpt One

Firstly I want to thank Megumi and Raven for lending me their notes so I could complete this assignment. Through their interpretations of what Beth said I was able to feel as though I was there.

  1. Erik decided not to seek medical treatment when he began to feel ill. Beth feels that this is common among the male gender.
  2. When we are ill or dying we shouldn’t stop doing what we love. Erik continued to create art regardless of the circumstances.
  3. Cancer is a disease not a person.
  4. Even though the state of dying is apparent, the word death should not be mentioned. Erik wanted to ignore the state he was in.
  5. Through the support of her family Beth was able to have quality time with Erik, neither of them knew when the last moment was going to happen but the moments she spent with him were the happiest days of her life.
  6. Buddhism intertwined with Erik’s death, Beth found comfort in religion, the ideas shared with her gave her insight into what to expect in the last days.
  7. Death is inevitable, we should live each day as though it is our last and we should never pass up the opportunity to tell someone how we feel about them.
  8. “Uncharted Waters”, no one has any idea of exactly what is going to happen once our hearts stop beating.
  9. When Erik “let go” there was stillness in the room, and stillness in his body.
  10. When the moment happens we should be surrounded by someone we love, who can continue to hold our hand once we are gone.

I found it very inspiring that although Erik was very ill he did not waste any time, through his art he continued to express himself. I’ve noticed that when someone dies the people they leave behind often feel as though their lives need to stop. They find comfort in hiding from the world verses just living. However, I am sure the people who left this universe wouldn’t want their family and friends to hide. By Erik continuing to create what he loved it seemed as if it was a silent sign for all of the people in his life to follow in his footsteps. I am one of those people who a lot of the time would rather hide then just face the world. I know those who have left me wouldn’t want this but loosing someone makes you scared. As much as dying is scary it seems like when you are actually going through it you become content with the idea. By finding peace with it you let yourself just live. So instead of waiting for the signs of the end we need to learn how to make every moment worth it, even if sometimes we feel scared.

Our society seems to pity those who are sick, we loose touch with them as people and circulate our thoughts around what is happening with their bodies. Beth didn’t want people to see Erik as cancer but to continue to see him as who he always was. I think it is very difficult to ignore the current state of a person; it is only human to worry and wonder what is going to happen next. It does seem sort of strange though how we often become obsessed with the disease within the person, we pull every string to slow down time, to cure them. Although Beth and Erik tried all of the treatments available it seems at a certain point the value of the moments they had were more important. Personally I never realized my Grandma was dying. My entire life my Grandma had always had diabetes. So for me the disease didn’t reflect who she was as a person. In the past ten years though she was frequently in and out of the hospital. Constantly going to the doctor, taking way too many pills a day, to slow down time for those around her. At a certain point though I think she realized this routine was too much and so she let go. Looking back I realize why so many of my family members were constantly worrying about my Grandma, from what she ate to making sure all of her medication was taken, they saw her as diabetes and the person she was once was became more of a memory. What is interesting though is that I don’t think the disease took over my Grandma completely, under all of the circumstances she continued to live her life. I think she recognized that although some people were obsessed many people saw her as they always had.

For the most part we all go through the same problems. I guess you can interpret that as comforting or bizarre. Through our similarities though we have plenty of options to confide in all of those around us. However, we must be willing to reach out for a hand, and by doing this we have better luck of moving forward. By listening to others we can understand our own problems through other lenses. By telling our stories we become more comfortable with the idea that lies within our words. It’s okay to be scared and want to hide because at one point or another we will all be in that state but it is up to us to find courage to open the door. By opening the door we can further the learning and exploring the things we love most and not waste our time wondering and worrying what may or may not come next.

4 comments:

  1. Your post is not lacking in detail, which is interesting seeing as you werent here. I found this quote to be especially insightful; "I’ve noticed that when someone dies the people they leave behind often feel as though their lives need to stop. They find comfort in hiding from the world verses just living." I hadn't really thought of that in my analysis of Beth's presentation. That people stop living after a death close to them. But you didn't explain why, or why you think. That would have reinforced your point.

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  2. I think it was interesting how you said that people sometimes look at people who have diseases, as instead of being people, just being a sick body and really only caring for their body.

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  3. Firstly, thank you for giving me credit. That was very sweet of you. :)

    Your post was very clear and organized. I found at least one insightful comment in each paragraph and found your thoughts very deep and made good connections. A line in particular that I liked was, "It does seem sort of strange though how we often become obsessed with the disease within the person, we pull every string to slow down time, to cure them." I strongly agree with that second paragraph and that statement because it's just what people do naturally when their loved ones get ill. We become persistant in making the person live longer, and end up forgetting at times about who they are as an individual.

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  4. My aol account for some reason will not post my comment (Carol)

    Sarah, I'm glad you have a blog in which to pour out all of your thoughts, wonderings and insights. You are grappling with a very big and pervasive topic...death and dying. An insight I had while reading your blog is that by becoming aware of the reality of death you have become aware, on a deeper level, how precious the gift of life really is. You are developing an awareness and facing the idea of how brief life is in the scheme of things. Your visual of "opening the door" is a good one. Each day we all have to make a decision to open the door to our life and make the best of it. I think you are doing that and becoming a stronger and more mature person because of your awareness.

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