Meditating in the ER
Unfortunately I ended up in the ER today. I'll skip what I was doing there for now, because I'd just like to focus on two emotions I experienced there today.
Dream of the death of a friend
I woke up at 3:06 a.m., crying in my sleep as I dreamed about the death of a friend. There are times you think you can handle anything, and mentally you're doing just great, but I was bawling my eyes out, and nearly hyperventilating from the effort.
It's hard to go back to sleep after something like that, but I eventually did. The dreams the rest of the night weren't any worse, but they weren't pleasant, either.
Yes, you can die in a dream
I've read and heard before something to the effect, "You can't die in a dream", your brain won't let you. I'm here to tell you, that's not the truth. You can die in a dream, and it's happened to me several times.
A dying bird on the road
Today gets to be remembered as the day that I drove over a bird on the road as it was fighting for its own life, and rapidly losing that battle.
Afraid of dying, walking meditation, hearing phrases
Email to a friend:
I had an interesting discussion w/ a friend of mine a few days ago. We've been talking about all sorts of spiritual things, and on Thursday he said something like "I'd like to think that I'm noble enough to pursue all these things because I'm interested in a happier life, but the truth is I'm afraid of dying." After a while we decided that maybe when he gets one answer he'll really get both.
I don't know why people become more spiritual, but I imagine fear of death is probably a big reason.
Three people dying
The first dream this morning that I had. There are three people that spend time together. One is dying of Cancer, one is dying of AIDS, and the third one isn’t really dying of anything. At the time, though he doesn’t feel very well, and he is physically sore. The gist of the story was the three of them talking, and sharing stories, and the one that is not sick ends up dying first.
Carl Sagan on almost dying
"I recommend almost dying to everybody. It's character building. You get a much clearer perspective of what's important and what isn't, the preciousness and beauty of life."
Carl Sagan, Astronomer, Philosopher
