[size=15pt]Death: You can't deny it, so why not embrace it?[/size]
By: Kate Taylor
I am a seriously morbid person.
I have an unusual obsession with death.
Images that normally cause people to turn away or feel nauseated grab hold of my interest and have me searching for them on Google and Encyclopedia Dramatica, aptly called "Wikipedia's evil twin" by a blogger.
There is a farm in Knoxville, Tenn., where dead human bodies are spread out over 3 acres of land and studied in their various stages of decomposition.
This is where I want to go on my next vacation.
The realization of my morbidity came after I took one particular class here at San Jose State, and since then, the proof has been inescapable.
When I saw, as a sophomore, that one of my general education classes had the words "death" and "dying" in the title, I set my cell phone alarm to the exact date and minute I could begin enrollment.
The class involved books about cultural perceptions of death, discussions about religious beliefs and speakers from religious sects.
We wrote our own wills, filled out do-not-resuscitate forms, planned our own funerals and reflected on time spent at cemeteries.
I would peruse mydeathspace.com in my spare time, fascinated by life's ability to yank a soul from its body and cause immense grief to those still living.
It may be abnormal to say so, but I loved it.
A couple years later, I still jump at the chance to witness death or talk to those who are near it.
When a friend of mine went to medical school in Chicago, I asked her to send me videos and pictures of the cadavers her class dissected.
In action or horror flicks, my favorite parts end up being the ones in which someone gets decapitated or loses a limb - the bloodier, the better.
My family experienced quite a few deaths in the past year, and at each funeral, I hoped there would be an open casket.
As inappropriate as that is, it is actually what I felt.
I'm not sure what my fascination with death is, but I think it has something to do with the fact that death is a constant.
Death, as the saying goes, is the only thing one can really count on life to follow through with, besides taxes.
I am going to die one day - maybe today or maybe in 30 years. The point is, it's going to happen to everyone eventually.
An article in the September 2006 edition of Discover Magazine stated that an estimated 100 billion humans have died since the beginning of the species.
It's comforting to know that so many have gone before me and that billions will continue to die after I have my turn.
It's not as though I can't wait for my own death - I still have things I want to do while I have life - but I'm looking forward to the experience, if there's anything to experience.
http://media.www.thespartandaily.com/media/storage/paper852/news/2008/04/03/Opinion/Death.You.Cant.Deny.It.So.Why.Not.Embrace.It-3300767.shtml