Life and Death

More light musings from your neighborhood tombstone.

Beyoncé once sang, “baby boy you stay on my mind.” I think that lyric is really relatable if you replace “baby boy” with “death.” I can’t help ruminating on subjects like misogyny, systemic racism, and how we’re all gonna die. Maybe it’s my south node in Scorpio, but I’m happy to dig into it, whatever it is. Those memes about girlies talking trauma at a party are me. Just a girl in the world.

Between that world’s events and the loss of my uncle, I’ve been revisiting all the grief feels and questions of what it all means. Spoiler alert: I dunno. But there’s something clarifying about death. Acknowledging the depth of loss reminds you of the value of life.

Stephen King’s The Shawshank Redemption is among the top 20 most-watched films. I wonder if we keep coming back to it for the message “get busy living or get busy dying.” Trainspotting says something similar: “choose life.” You could probably argue that’s the theme of most movies if you really boil it down. Affirming life.

My ongoing musings on life and death are at least partly the result of losing my brother young. Experiencing that direct hit made me rethink a lot of the supposed order of things. I was only nineteen (Hamilton!) but suddenly very aware that everything could be yanked out from under me. And what was it all for?