RIP

There is nothing ever that one could say, to ease the weight of grief. Of course, people mean well. But no amount of intention changes facts. Grief is a process that has to be grown through like any stage of development in life. Some of us manage to do it more gracefully than others. For most, it is awkwardly painful. Not liberally expressed or shared. For a few it is a formality, not being in touch with who they are, so they simply go through the steps as they assume is expected of them. I know I myself have mindlessly shared well intentioned RIP posts before on social media. But what does that really mean? Would I really want someone to rest in peace for all eternity? And does that not imply that theirs was not a peaceful life? That there was but struggle and pain and suffering. (Un)intentionally brushing away the fullness of all that that life entailed, by wishing them to rest in peace. I would not want to rest in peace for eternity. For one, I would translate it to mean that whoever wishes for me to rest in peace, could not see the (moments of) peace I enjoyed while alive. Completely overlooking my being at ease with the unfolding of my life, as they project what they feed on onto my life, or anyone’s life for that matter. If there really is any sort of continuum after death, I think it is rather morbid to imagine myself to repose forever. I think it would defeat the point of transcending into the next form. If I am “born” into this existence, surely my “death”, the ending of it, can only be a beginning. Even as my organic body decomposes, providing for the continuance of other organic forms, the source of what gave this body life will have moved onto its next stage. Not stagnating, not resting in peace, but simply transforming in the ways only the miracle of Life can. ~•~ a beautiful milieu