Alive At Last
I've heard say that you are never more alive than when death is but a step away, and I can see that. I can see that illuminating light that never burns brighter than a moment before it is extinguished forever.
I have lived it on two occasions and can say that at those exact moments my mind was in turmoil.
First time that heart attack hits, it catches you always when the last thing on your mind is death. You're doing your thing and concentrating on some mundane triviality and suddenly your breathing becomes laboured, your chest tightens, and before you can say what the fuck you're caught up in a boiling vortex that leaves you breathless and struggling to survive.
The other time I was watching TV and eating a sandwich, some food become lodged in my throat and I couldn't breath, everything stopped as my brain struggled to get me breathing again but all I could do was feel the heat, gagging, desperate for air and slowly turning blue. Suddenly, I swallowed the wedge of meat and air flooded into my lungs as Death smiled and walked away. Man, that was beyond intense.
So then I have come close and I know that normality can stop at any time. It's scary. Proper scary.
Any one of us can surrender our lives at any time and be hurled into an eternity of nothing without even being aware of it, and it's that suddenness that sends shudders up my spine.
But should it? I'm assuming that when you are dead, you don't know that you are dead, so is it that different from life?
We go about our day to day business habitually do we not? We set alarms to wake us up, to remind us of things and we attend functions, and parties and go swimming all with a rehearsed normality that precludes the need for thought, thus freeing our brains to remember more important things, like saving money, paying bills or making small talk.
Occasionally we are as I am now, enjoying the last days of my holiday, and jolly nice it is too. But, although we live, how appreciative are we of it? How often do we stop for a moment to savour the fact that we are living, sentient beings? I never do, I'm far too busy catching Pokemon, or shovelling burgers into my face, or babysitting (that's enough babysitting!).
Ask yourselves a question here, what does it feel like to be alive?
Go on, do it. Does it feel good or not so good? I myself cannot answer that because I just....am.
So how can I describe life?
Life is a series of adventures that culminate in Death. Well, yes, I could put it that way and I wouldn't be too far off the mark. But life is different for everybody isn't it?
We are given a chance to experience it, a fleeting opportunity to breathe air and walk on grass, to gather rosebuds. Life is truly a gift.
Sci-Fi Author Andy Weir Talks Fantasy, Humanity, and Education
This week's guest writer is world renowned Sci-Fi author, Andy Weir.
His latest novel, The Martian, has recently been adapted into a full-length feature film and is slated to grace the big screen later this year.
Below is an introduction to the novel, followed by an exclusive interview with Weir himself.
"Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars.
"Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there.
"After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive.
"Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to kill him first.
"But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills—and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit—he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?"
- Courtesy of Random House Publishing, copyright 2015
P: What are your three most treasured sci-fi fantasies from childhood? Discuss.
Weir: I would say "I, Robot" (Asimov), "Have Spacesuit, Will Travel" (Heinlein), and "Tunnel in the Sky" (also Heinlein).
P: Would you care to comment on the recent studies regarding how science fiction has been said to have predicted actual events well in advance of their time and how the genre continues to grow and evolve through the ages? In what ways (or to what degree) can science fiction be educational?
AW: Sci-Fi often predicts future [technology] but that's not surprising. People who like to think about future technology are often interested in sci-fi, so it's only natural that such speculations make their way into fiction.
P: Have you yourself ever experienced an extraterrestrial or paranormal/other-worldly encounter? Tell us about it and what effect it had over you, personally.
AW: No I haven't, and I don't believe anyone on Earth ever has. I do believe there's a very high chance of extraterrestrial life existing somewhere out there, I don't believe we've ever had any interaction with it.
P: Pubslush recently posted the following challenge on Prose:
“You are an alien that has just landed on Earth. Describe your first encounter with humanity. (You happen to have a masterful grasp of the English language.)”
How might you respond to this, from the perspective of the lead character in The Martian?
AW: It would depend entirely on where I landed. I would interact with whatever humans I met. So if I landed in India, I would think humans were all like Indians. If I landed in Malaysia, I'd think humans were all like Malaysians. It would take a lifetime of study for me to truly understand the complexity and variety of human cultures.
For more information about Weir, visit his website by copying and pasting the following link into your web browser: www.andyweirauthor.com.
Look for "The Martian," directed by Ridley Scott and starring Kristen Wiig, Jessica Chastain, Matt Damon, Jeff Daniels, among others, to release on November 25, 2015.
For details please visit: imdb.com/title/tt3659388/
You can also find Weir on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/pages/Andy-Weir/462962073803090
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Stay tuned here each week for more in this #MondayBlogs series— designed to educate and inspire you from the inside out. We’ll give you insights and resources from the literary at large as well as exclusives about your own world of words: Prose.
