Life After Death and the Ticking Clock Scenario

Here I go again talking about my least favorite yet most fascinating topic [see post: Living is a Parody Because Everything Dies]: Death. How much do I loathe thee? Let me count the ways…

Strangers that I have felt sorrow for
Celebrities that I have been inspired by
Friends that I have cared deeply for
and
Relatives that I have loved

Have all had their clocks tick one last tock time unexpectedly.

We all know it’s coming yet it still catches you by surprise.

I’ve realized that the thought and realization of death makes me physically ill. If death were an allergen, I’d be allergic to it. No question. No, I don’t break out in hives, swell up or sneeze profusely. Instead, I become sleep-depraved. My head throbs incessantly making it quite difficult to concentrate. My stomach turns and aches with pangs of loss instead of hunger. My eyes water with every mention, near mention or slight mention of the person that I am grieving. My motivation takes a dive so low and deep I’d need spelunking gear just to find it again.

My creative energy recently took a hit due to my nemesis; with my father’s recent passing I was mentally shackled to this boulder of guilt that I felt like Sisyphus (a king in Greek mythology who was forced to roll a boulder up a hill only for it to roll back down once it reached the top, repeating this action for all eternity). I was lying in my fictitious cave for a length of four agonizing days. Felt like I was the one at death’s door (no pun intended). I couldn’t stay down too long because I started to hate on myself for being so unproductive and dwelling on coulda, shoulda and wouldas. As they say, “life goes on” and I needed to break out of the gloom and doom of my bedroom and rejoin the land of the working class. So, here are some steps that I took to regroup and revitalize myself and my creative energy:

• Take a shower…steam up the bathroom, stick a Vick’s VapoShower bomb in there, grab your favorite body wash or bar of soap and proceed to wash away the melancholy along with the funk (killing 2 birds with one stone).
• Eat something fulfilling and nutritious like eggs and oatmeal or fresh mixed fruit and Greek yogurt (I usually eat the vanilla or honey flavored) that will sustain you for the better part of the morning while providing you with some energy.
• Go to work or go work out…surrounding yourself with other people with the same goal of getting something done will give you something to focus on besides grieving. Also talking and laughing with your co-workers can give your mind a break as well.
• Engage with the youth…we don’t give kids the credit that they deserve. Talking with them and listening to them talk about their dreams or listening to them share their memories they have made with you can be introspective.
• Turn your tragedy into a work of art…paint your pain, draw your despair, sing your blues or write your woes. There’s nothing more cathartic, more therapeutic than channeling your grief into something creative.

Lather, rinse, repeat until the head no longer throbs as much, the stomach only aches every now and then, the eyes water a little less and your motivation continues to rise just a little bit every day.