Hello,
Thank you for attending November’s edition of Conversations @ INDIGO where we looked at the topic: Why is Death a Taboo Subject? as a way to understand the various reasons why Death is hardly the go-to topic of conversation. Here is the note from the day.
When you have a conversation, it end, if I have a beautiful party, it ends but one thing we tell ourselves that will never end is life because there’s this fear of going to the next phase – Conversation leader
There’s this desperation to kin into life – we are obsessed with prolonging life – eating healthier, exercising harder, doing things to reduce stress – anything to put off the inevitability of death thereby living in self-denial of our mortality – ignoring the fact that we will die someday. However, the awareness of our death – accepting the inevitability of it and engaging in honest conversations about it helps us live our life differently.
The Individual perception of the other-side (afterlife) determines how much of a value death is.
The concept of good and bad death and the value of death is strongly associated with individual perception of life after death and the ethics that guide transition/translation. Where some belief in the afterlife or a place called heaven after death – a soothing, peaceful and ideal destination that appeals to one’s sense of awe and wonder – to this end, death is good and those who believe in heaven and the afterlife highly await the promise of death. Whereas others believe in the finite nature of death or a place called hell – which is frightening, particularly losing all we’ve worked for just to be in a place of eternal suffering – to this end, everyone wants to hold on to life by all means possible.
Whichever perception of death we have, what is important is the need to have a culture of leaving a legacy – there is no better way to immortalize than to leave a legacy.
The failure of our culture and religion to educate the people about death resulted in our fear of death.
Religion is a double-edged sword and we are taking the bad side. It is the same culture and religion that shapes the ideology of those who have refused to leave a legacy behind. If our culture and religion could let people know that there is a transition that happens when the body can no longer hold you – either through sickness or death, irrespective of whether there is life after death or not – this world would not be as dark and horrible as it is now because the awareness and the acceptance of our death helps us to live a quality life.
Where I am going to is always a question of how fulfilling I left this place.
No matter how very important you think you are, people will eventually forget you and move on but the importance of a good life is the legacy of life you lived.
- The ultimate solution is to confront our fears – avoiding the death discussion does not make potential issues go away either does it attract death to come sooner than it should.
- Again, we need to have a culture of leaving a legacy – there is no better way to immortalize than to leave a legacy.
Suggested/recommended materials
- A wanderer in the Spirit Land by A. Farnese
- Defending your life – judgement city (1991)
- Casablanca (1942)
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So, all in all, a great conversation was had, and we look forward to seeing you at the next edition of Conversations @ INDIGO in January 2020.
We want to make every conversation better, please leave your feedback here so we can improve future CONVERSATIONS.
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Conversations @ INDIGO is a free monthly event organised by INDIGO, the researcher workspace, an initiative of The Sahara Centre – an organization that seeks to advance the socio-cultural dimension of sustainable development in Nigeria.
We are a research-focused organization, working to develop insights that guide evidence-based decision making. For more information about our activities, please visit www.saharacentre.org