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Let's Talk About Death
If at any time you would like to talk about the loss of a loved one, call Margaret Wheat at EveryDay Counselling to make an appointment on 0403 728144.
EveryDay Counselling, Paddington, Brisbane, Qld
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Article 2 - She Died Young from a Terminal Illness
Cory Taylor a writer and screenwriter was diagnosed with an aggressive melanoma. Her diagnosis was death in the short term. She was a person that had a curiosity about her from childhood and liked to write and explore and so was the same when it came to death.
She wrote about and gave a radio interview on ‘dying’. It was the hardest thing that she had ever done, she hadn’t any practice, and was unprepared because she'd not really considered it before.
She found her dying a time of gathering memories, daydreaming about the things that she had experienced and done in her life time. She reflected on the first time she encountered death. It was when she was a child and she saw a kookaburra swoop down and pick up a skink and swallow it down. It came to her as a shock; the skink died, everyone dies.
Taylor describes life as consciousness and death as the end of consciousness. In our society, death is generally hidden away, avoided and not talked about it. And yet death can be a gift – it can bring relief for the tired old and sick body – not only for the sufferer but for the carer as well.
Taylor says that when she was first diagnosed she didn’t tell anybody. How do you tell them? She didn’t feel sick, she didn’t look sick but then the cancer went to her brain and she was told to get her affairs in order.
Religion of all kinds gives language, poetry and ritual to death, there are words to explain it and services to celebrate and remember life. If one doesn’t have a religion there are no words; there are no rituals or explanations, which can leave just fear itself.
The Buddhists explain dying as when:
Consciousness leaves you in stages
You can feel it and see it –
Essential consciousness moves into the ether.
The body shuts down – moment of release
Essential consciousness seeks another body to enter.
Reincarnation – a baby, cycle of life.
Being born human is the ultimate.
If you or a loved one are facing death and it is hard to find someone to talk with comfortably about your thoughts and feelings, I am open and comfortable with such conversations and would be honoured to listen to your thoughts and feelings.