To Die Would be a Great Adventure

Anyone know that quote? I'm sure you all do.

It's from Steven Spielberg's 1991 film, Hook, the story of 'what would happen if Peter Pan grew up.' It is a paraphrase of the line from J. M. Barrie's book, which is 'to die would be an awfully big adventure.' And I think it very accurately reflects my views on the subject.

First, why have I chosen such a strange and somewhat macabre headline and topic? Well, for a couple of reasons...a recent death in the family...the fact that I study religion (and death is part and parcel of religion)...that I watch a lot of TV shows and movies, and read a lot of books, in which death features prominently...the fact that last night out with my friends I was compared to 'a prisoner waiting to be executed'....

That last one because my legs were bouncing, and my friends thought I looked nervous about something. My response was to laugh and say 'I wouldn't be nervous if I was about to be executed', which they did not believe, but which really got me thinking. I tell myself that I came to terms with my own mortality a long time ago (I did, in fact, accept that, by living, I must eventually die). And from this acceptance of the inevitable, the debt that all men pay (from National Treasure: Book of Secrets), I have firmly believed that I'm not afraid to die. And I think that's true.

Now, don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean that I want to die, no; quite the opposite, in fact. I love life, the people in my life, and I'm driven by the thought that I can, in some way, make life better for those around me. That seems to always be my driving force, and I think that's a great thing by which to be driven, a desire to make things better for others. But just because I don't want to die doesn't mean I'm afraid to.

Some other quotes about death that always stick in my head:
'To a well-organised mind, death is but the next great adventure.' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J.K. Rowling (this is in fact a recurring theme throughout the Harry Potter series; Dumbledore, one of my personal heroes, is constantly stating that there are things in this world far worse than death).

'For our existence to hold any value, it must end. ...Mortality...is the one thing that makes you whole.' Battlestar Galactica.

'The last enemy to be destroyed is death.' 1 Corinthians 15:26, Revised Standard Version.

'End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass. And then you see it...white shores...and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise.' The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King film, adapted from Tolkien's text (which I don't have with me here).

These last three are particularly important (though I think the Bible quote would be more properly translated as 'The last enemy to be abolished is death', rather than destroyed...but that's just nitpicky, isn't it?). Perhaps I'm not afraid to die because I've come to understand that, without death, life has nothing to make it meaningful, no counterpoint against which to work, and because in my faith, death is not to be feared; it is one thing of which many people are afraid, but which everyone must face; it is the last thing which shall be removed from this world and from our lives. Death is not the end; it is only a beginning.

I'm rambling.

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I'm now 4,000 words into my chapter, with another 2,000 set as my goal today (hopefully I'll have the draft completed by Friday, at this pace, and then I can revise over the weekend and email it in at the beginning of next week...but we'll see). A goal of 2,000/day seems to be a very good one...I've been told that, in order to maintain their careers, authors have to produce between two and three thousand words a day, and if I did 2,000 words each day, I could write my 100,000 word dissertation in 50 days. And, seeing as I've already written several drafts of several parts of my work, it might not even take that long. Maybe that can be my goal once I get through review boards at the end of the year...a 50 day dissertation. That would even be the title. Heh.

Well, I've now written 1,000 words, eaten lunch, watched The Daily Show from last night, checked for new episodes of TV shows on iTunes (no new Fringe for several weeks now...that is worrisome), and updated my blog with a strangely deep(?) entry...now back to work.

-stephen