My Fantasy Burial

The blog prompt this week was to describe how we ourselves would like to be buried. Cremation? The scattering of ashes into the ocean? Or would you prefer the classic movie burial? Suit, tie, black blazer over a black dress affair with finger sandwiches and awkward silences. An elaborate coffin filled with material possessions, symbolic of your supposed nature, a physical monument to your life, a place for women to weep and men to stare at in stoic silence.

Stereotyped much?  

I think I've been avoiding this question. In typical young adult fashion, despite considering myself a bit of a philosopher, the consequences of my death have always been a topic that can wait for tomorrow. It took me a while to really make any decisions I might commit to. 

Here goes. 

What I hope would happen at my ideal fantasy funeral. Hey, this might be fun! (Uhhhh)

I always kind of assumed cremation might be a nice thing. I imagined my family standing at the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean at sun down, scattering my ashes into the breeze and talking about how awesome I was.      

A little bit egotistical but you get the point. Also, there is always the possibility that this will happen...

Source:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4zWXte73-k

      

DUDE.

I don’t believe in an afterlife, heaven, hell, god. I do believe in Science. We know that energy never dies. And so, upon further reflection, I don’t want to be burned, my energy dispersed in the same commercial oven that has been used to cremate so many before me. I want to be buried but as simply as possible. I want a coffin made of simple, unfinished wood, taken from the earth and then returned. Unvarnished, unfinished planks to make up a rectangle shaped box. I want to be buried alone in a coniferous forest away from the city, away from others, in a peaceful area that my loved ones can visit.* I want a tree to mark my grave. A seedling planted at the time of my burial. I like the idea of the tree using my bodily materials, my energy for its growth. I don’t want material possessions in my coffin. Why? Leave the way I came. Except I definitely want to be clothed. A white linen dress and blanket. When I think of this outfit MacBeth’s Ophelia comes to mind. Elegant, flowing:

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:John_Everett_Millais_-_Ophelia_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg

Man, how macabre. 

I want my nearest and dearest to be there for my burial. I want them to plant the tree and then I want them to sit around with beers and have a party. A picnic potluck, ciders, music that I love. I want them to have fun and dance. Maybe they’ll tell stories and share memories. I think that’s it. That sounds nice. When they want to visit me all they have to do is go for a hike to 'my' tree. With the passage of time, perhaps they will begin to see the growth of the tree as the beautiful change that accompanies life and death. Generations will believe that their ancestor's essence inhabits the life forms around that area and it will become a place of contemplation and solace. A place to ask questions of the earth and of ones self. A place to find answers and speak aloud and feel as though the universe is listening.

-A

*I’m pretty sure there are rules on where you can be buried and outside of a cemetery is not one of them. Bummer. 

Mushroom Death Suit

Our professor, Erin McGuire, sent out a message with a link to this TedTalk by Jae Rhim Lee:

http://www.ted.com/talks/jae_rhim_lee.html. 

She stated that it was one of her favourite options for burial. You can read her musings about Vikings and most things death related here: http://erinsanth397.blogspot.ca/. 

What I really like about this TedTalk is that it emphasizes the need for acceptance of new solutions to environmental problems. We are simply using and abusing our earth and our bodies. Everyone seems to know that and yet we continue to engage in social practices that contribute to this destruction.

For instance, Lee mentions that BPA is found in 93% of people 6 years and older and yet we continue to use it in canned goods despite its reputation for causing cancer.

What are we doing? We aren’t on a ship at sea or stuck in our backyard bomb shelter. Although, I guess maybe some of you are at sea, and there was that movie with Brendan Fraser “Blast From The Past” where canned goods would obviously come in handy. Brendan Fraser and seamen can have a pass. Everyone else, buy a tomato, grow a tomato, and take the time to soak your beans; stop contributing to environmental waste and polluting your body just because you are lazy.

Lee acknowledges that, when we die, we return to the environment to continue the cycle of toxicity. If you are cremated, the chemicals in your body are released into the atmosphere. If you have a Christian funeral, you are covered in cosmetics and filled with formaldehyde in an attempt to preserve your body and make it appear as if you are simply sleeping.

Why do we continue to do these things?

In a previous post, I wrote about wanting to be buried near a tree so that the energy from my decomposing body could be used to make that tree grow. Apparently, there is already a similar idea called Green burial. Check out this website for a how-to:

http://www.treehugger.com/sustainable-product-design/poetree-a-funeral-urn-that-lets-you-plant-a-tree-from-ashes.html

Most green ideas involve using the ashes of a cremated body, so it’s not really all that green. That’s why Lee came up with the Infinity Burial Project in which she uses mushrooms to decompose and clean bodies.

Welcome, the mushroom death suit!

Source:http://blog.koldcast.tv/media/burial/Mushroom%20Death%20Suit.jpg

What a great idea. I completely agree with the direction she is going and I hope that a lot more people will jump on board. She calls this project a “step towards accepting the fact that some day I will die and decay”. We are so afraid of death; we live in a culture of “death denial” in which, we are constantly trying to preserve our bodies, even once death has already occured.

Why? 

I mean, I get it, death is scary.

The end.

No more.

But in my humble opinion, the first step to enjoying life, is accepting death. It is because we must endure the pain of loss, that we do. In other words, accepting something that is inevitable is the fastest way to the other side (of it).

(Appropriate death puns?)

Well, we get through it. So, let’s start being honest about reality. Lee elegantly states “accepting death means accepting that we are physical beings who are intimately connected to the environment”. What a great way of saying there is no life without death. And since it is unavoidable, let’s start making it fun! Mushroom death suits for everyone!

I think artist Jae Rhim Lee is on to something. It’s creative people like her that help to assuage my fears over our current environmental situation. Her dictum is that “the survival of our species depends on the survival of the planet” and that “this is the beginning of true environmental responsibility”. So, maybe, just maybe, with enough creativity and ambition, we humans will be able to change some of our cultural behaviours that have negative effects on our planet. Perhaps the next generation will inherit an earth that is cleaner, all because of fungal apparel. 

Now that’s something I can dig.