Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

Hawthorn bloom in May

Last Friday, June 17^th was the anniversary of John Cowper Powys’s death.   Death is something he often addresses in both his philosophical books and in his works of fiction but this is not a gloomy focus on something we would rather ignore.  It is a source of life-affirming advice.

In the modern world, we tend to hide death away.  Of course, we see images on tv of wars, murders, and natural disasters but in our day-to-day lives we are protected from it.  People in the past dealt with death on a regular basis when infant mortality rates were high, maternal mortality during childbirth  often occurred, infectious diseases were rife and there was no safety net of a welfare state or the NHS.   Today, most people die in hospital or in residential care rather than in their own homes and the care of the deceased is then put into the hands of undertakers.  We tend to shy away from anything associated with death, not wanting to face the inevitable and is reflected in our attitudes to aging and death.  Many people seek ‘eternal youth’ and spend much time and money in fighting the inevitable processes of aging by undergoing radical cosmetic surgery, injecting ‘filler’s and other materials into their body.  There is nothing wrong with maintaining and caring for an aging body but there is a prevailing culture of youth that refuses to accept the inevitable.  Of course, this is fuelled by advertising, and companies and businesses who depend on such ideas for their success.  We have all heard of the experiments in ‘freezing’ bodies so that the person can be woken into life again at a later date; the promise of eternal life.  JCP believed that such attitides and beliefs are the cause of many of our problems.

Powys reminds us of the inevitability of death.  “Look around you” he tells us, observe nature and the cycle of life and death.  Everything - plant, fungi, fish, bird, animal, human being - comes into being and dies.  When we fully recognise this natural process we will be less afraid of it.  “Life is short” is a cliché that trips off our tongues but how often do we stop and fully consider what this means?  If we stop and really think about it we will come to a deep understanding of this one and only sure and inevitable fact of life - our own death – and this can instil in us the desire to change how we live.  When we fully realise how short and precious life is we will be more likely to make the most of the time we have and not fritter our lives away.  Recognising we all share the same fate can lead us to treat others with more understanding, empathy and compassion. 

Looking at the inevitability of our own death may not be something we want to do but it can have a positive impact on our quality of life.  It can lead to change and to  transforming the way in which we live.  The fact that life is short will cease to be a tired cliché and instead will be the mantra by which we live. We will make better use of ever precious moment and really live rather than merely exisiting.