Sublime

Death and dying unite us in a common humanity.

The “death” component of Square One, that initial period when you first come to terms with the fact that your old identity is lost, can only be managed by grieving. Psychologists sometimes call it “grief work.” I like this phrasing, because it points out that experiencing the pain of loss is a concrete, productive behavior, not a waste of time.

www.edmonds-institute.org/dontmour.html)

Between these two poles-life anxiety and death anxiety, or individuation and merger-people shuttle back and forth their entire lives.

(My Jungian therapist taught me something that I find quite comforting—that although it feels like the palette of human feelings is limitless, in fact every emotional shade, like every color, is derived from just a few primary emotions: sad, mad, glad, scared. For those just learning an emotional vocabulary, as I was, it’s less overwhelming to lear

THE story is told (by Kierkegaard) of the absent-minded man so abstracted from his own life that he hardly knows he exists until, one fine morning, he wakes up to find himself dead.

The mandate at the deathbed is to be fully present, attentive, and responsive.

“I once asked a man who knew he was dying what he needed above all in those who were caring for him. He said, ‘For someone to look as if they are trying to understand me.’ Indeed,

Impassible, Nietzsche répliqua immédiatement : « S’il ne sait pas qu’il est sur le point de mourir, comment votre patient peut-il choisir sa manière de mourir ? – Sa manière de mourir, professeur Nietzsche ? – Oui, il doit savoir comment affronter la mort : parler aux gens, donner des conseils, dire des choses qu’il n’avait jamais dites, prendre co