Death: The Next Frontier
Because, after all, most of us---if we're honest----don't really know what is just beyond this world of the life we are living right now. Yes, we can make our best guess at it, yes we can choose to believe various pathways that Prophets and Masters have shared with us through the years; however, just like the experience of something as personal as childbirth, we won't really know what is beyond this life until we're beyond this life.
With that said, what we can know is how we experience death around us such as how we are effected by the death of people, animals, plants, species, ideas, cars, etc. And/or what we do in the process of the dying of others and as well as after they/it have gone.
Two deaths rocked my world this year. The first was my father who passed four days before his 82nd birthday. One of the biggest gifts that came from all of the work I've done on clearing out baggage from stories and experiences of my life is that when he died instead of feeling like there was a big hole in the Universe, I experienced feeling even more connected to the whole of it. Oh sure, I cried a lot and there isn't a time I don't hear an Air Force jet flying over head that I don't think of him but I'm pretty sure he'd love that his death helped me to see even more deeply how we are all connected.
The second death was the unexpected passing of the favorite brother of a very good friend from college. Although she adores her other three brothers, the one who died was her rock---actually he was perceived as "the rock" by their entire family. The gift I got from this death was having the ability to fully show up to hold the space and be of support to my friend, her husband and her family with no expectations other than to share and give love. I realized that all the experiences of deaths of people, pet, nature, ideas, etc. through the years had truly opened my heart up enough to allow for the growth out of self-centeredness into compassion for others.
Do I believe there is something else besides this life we are living right now? Absolutely. Can I prove it to you? Have no desire to do that because I believe it is in the proving that there is something after death we become distracted from living fully which is exciting if you think about it because instead, we can begin to grow and explore all there is in our heads, hearts and souls right now while we're breathing here on Earth so thoroughly that, hopefully, when our time comes we will be able to release with joy from a life well lived.