Introduction
Bob Banner
Editor & Publisher
I am afraid of dying and I don’t particularly enjoy talking about it. [I tried reading A Year To Live but put it away as quickly as I opened it (see review on p.55).] This is one reason why I decided to create a special issue on “Death and Other Beginnings.” And since I do not have much experience in tasting death among friends, relatives, or associates, I decided to get the aid of Douglas Bing, Program Coordinator for Hospice of SLO. Also, another reason why I chose Death as a subject for a magazine purported to be about sustainability is that most cultures that do not deny death have a sense of sustainability within their livelihoods. When there is a denial of death, then it appears to be okay to rape and pillage our natural resources (since the assumption is that we are not going to die anyway).
I'm curious as to why we seem to think that we will live forever. I'm curious as to what happens to a person who comes very close to death (NDE’s)... what changes they start making. Why do we wait until a crisis (i.e., near death) before we start fulfilling our purpose? Do we need a crisis? Do we need a shock (as Bill McKibben writes about in this issue) to wake up?
And what about all the saccharine ways people keep consoling one another, both the dying and the grieving, about death? The patronizing pat on the back, the religionists’ attempt at consolation by telling you that you will meet each other in heaven.... Why is there this unconscious dictum that is screaming at us NOT to feel the intense, messy grief that death brings up? What in us needs consoling and what in us needs to be wildly disturbed so we will wake up?
Death is change, transformation, peeling the layers away. It is compost; it is necessary. Death is private as well as global. Death is the faces and bodies that are oftentimes grotesquely displayed on the 11 o’clock news. Death is the end of a marriage, the loss of a pet, the end of one’s neighborhood. Death is the end of that once glorious present moment which is now a fading memory.Death has many levels of intensity. Some humans go quietly; some go shouting and fighting. Most die as they lived. During a meditative visualization (via a hospice workshop), the leader had us close our eyes and step by step drew us to imagine our deaths. I could not help but peek at all the calm faces around me while I was going through a very difficult emotional time.
This issue, like all issues, attempts to increase our tolerance and need for change. If we had our way we’d probably prefer to stay the same and leave change for those who want it... but Death changes that. It pushes us to go deeper, to take action, to make that commitment that we’ve put off for so long. When writer Anthony Burgess was informed that he had 6 months to live, he used that time writing numerous short novels (including Clockwork Orange) and eventually outlived his doctor. Near death experiences (NDE’s) can catapult us into changing behavior that previously was unfulfilling or unproductive. A suicide survivor may reach the conclusion that by serving others one may begin enjoying life rather than obsessing over one’s problems (see Waking Up Alive by Richard Heckler). Seeing the death of prime ag land converted into a mammoth “box store” that sells things people don’t need can bring certain people into action (see p.34). Seeing, feeling, and breathing the reality that certain species cannot survive on this planet does something to some people. We either numb out because our psycho-emotional selves cannot deal with it... or we allow the natural grieving process to tear us apart inside and move us into the unknown.
But with all deaths there are new beginnings. A compost (p.50) of decaying matter becomes the essential soil for new growth. Old HopeDances become worm bin fodder. The end of oil resources will start a whole new way of being that only few are envisioning. The death of a spouse can be a beginning of a life never imagined. The death of NAFTA/GATT/MAI and the WTO could be the beautiful beginning of a truly local economy...
With this issue, Doug Bing and I have collected material that hopefully will move readers to go deeper with their relationship to Death. We hope that the stories, poems, and quotes penetrate to our deeper psyches where the seeds of newness begin. As I have been working on this issue, I can feel once again the struggle between denial and how much I can let in about my inevitable death... and allow the alchemical process to do its thing.
Doug Bing writes about Life, Death, Hospice, and Voluntary Simplicity on p.13. Local writer Bill Kötke elaborates the demise of the empire and the beginning seeds of something new (p.17). Local radio talk show host Dave Congalton speaks to Ingrid Pires from Hospice about pet loss (the transcription from a radio broadcast starts on p.26). Rodney Smith, who is coming to Morro Bay to lead a meditation retreat, writes about “Learning From Death” on p.38. Also included are three fascinating NDE stories (p.29). Famed author Doris Lessing writes a succinct piece about the death of verbal culture on p.21. First Nation’s author Kuya Minogue reports on a moving story of a how a death in his village brought the community together (p.28).
Death is very often unnecessary as in wars and environmental pollution which has been linked to such terminal diseases as leukemia and other forms of cancer. It becomes a tough balance to die with dignity and peace knowing that your shortened life (or your friends’ lives) was based on a careless economic and cultural obsession with progress at any cost and greedy politicians who have no interest in caring for the earth for future generations (as in the case with the WTO [see p.39]). Bill McKibben explores the inertia around implementing policies to curb global warming. He feels shocks are necessary (see p.22).
The hospice movement never actually took to the streets but their slow and potent visibility has touched millions of lives. Their work is represented by Donna Kean (p25), Rodney Smith (p38), Doug Bing (13), Ingrid Pires (26 and 55) and a story about their music program on p.32. Even though denial of death is being whittled slowly away, it will be a cold day in hell before American culture accepts a radical notion of dealing with deceased bodies as other cultures (i.e., burning them near the Ganges in India and chopping them up for the waiting vultures as in Tibet).
I want to thank Doug Bing for generously co-editing this issue by acquiring articles, poems, and stories. Also a special thanks to Rosemary Wilvert who not only proofread much of the issue but also let HopeDance view many of her poetry workshop’s material about death. And Harold Hallikainen for OCRing most of the articles that were not computer-ready. And, of course, the contributing writers who spent their heartfelt time and energy in creating some fine gems.
A new column called “Parenting News” features the enthusiasm of Susan Coward. Her column’s current topic is breast-feeding which starts on p.45. Check out our new columnist Bob Shanbrom for the Eco-Political News (p.49). We also have started a HopeDance Speaker’s Directory (see p.53). And please check out all the advertising in this issue. We have grown to 72 pages and the advertisers are a major source of income to HopeDance. We fortunately do not have the backing of some millionaire or corporation or governmental agency to provide for a staff, new equipment, secretary and a ready-made distribution service. We have been grassroots and continue to be. Information about subscribing: send $10 or $20 (depending on your income) for a year’s subscription to HopeDance, POB 15609, SLO, CA 93406.
If you’ve read this far, I thank you... and invite you to a very special read of the last issue of the century!
