A Matter of Death and Life

 "Old masters advise, 'Stick the word death on your forehead and keep it there.'" Philip Kapleau, The Zen of Living & Dying.

The purpose of this contemplation, of course, is to drop the cloak of denial and accept death as a reality. 

You may be familiar with the exercise of writing what you'd want on your tombstone, your own epitaph perhaps not quite as succinct or inspiring as Emily Dickinson's "Called Back," John Keats' "Here Lies One Whose Name Was Writ in Water," or one of my favorites, Carrie Nation's "She Hath Done What She Could." 

My epitaph won't be cast in stone because I plan to have a natural burial at Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery, in the woods, with a native plant to mark the spot. I'll imagine joining those whose molecules I especially hope to mix with mine. All those I've known, loved, and learned from, personally or through study and practice.

When the first edition of my coaching book was published in 2004, I thought Now I can die feeling I've completed my life's purpose. But a bout with breast cancer and a double mastectomy in December 2010 changed my focus from what I've done to how I'm being in the present moment, hoping that my only awareness at the moment of death is: I am here now. I am present to those surrounding me and to joining those who have gone before.