Day 30: Elder Muse – “Death Walker”

“I find ecstasy in living — the mere sense of living is joy enough.”

~Emily Dickinson

“If I am not conscious that I am going to die, then I am not fully alive.”

~Aralyn Doiron

On this next to last post for 2022 what appeared, and insisted on being the focus, was something we don’t usually talk about with others except with medical directives, wills, estate planning and so forth. Something that we are closer to than we have ever been as elders even though it can come at any time in our lives. Death.

Death has been stalking me recently and asking me to pay attention to living fully NOW in this moment. Perhaps because of my age and it is Winter where so much has died off. We hear more often of friends “passing away”. If our parents are still living they ride the edge between life in one moment and death in the next…and we promise ourselves we will be there for the dying moment.

My life has been filled with the reality of death. First as a young teenager of 14 when I lost my mother suddenly, followed by others close to me, including my youngest son’s father when he was 7, and my father who lived to be 89 and died in his sleep. Beloved friends caught up in cancer which took their lives and others that have touched my life along the way are no longer here to connect with.

Working as a hospice volunteer, and nurse/integrative health practitioner for over 30 years had me standing at many bedsides when the last breath was taken. Some were ready and others fought for that last breath not willing to let go….and die.

It is a sacred moment in time and a reminder that some day it will be ours.

As Aralyn Doiron says in the film below – death teaches us about impermanence and valuing what we have in this moment. She wants to be remembered as a trail of light…..

What do you leave behind? How do you want to be remembered?

May 8, 2019 ‘Death Walker. I love the name, it sounds like a heavy metal band…’ – Aralyn Doiron

“Aralyn trained to be a Death Walker, which is someone who values death, and who values life. We have become so separated from death. Yet it is only when we recognise that we’re going to die, that we can truly start to live! “

To follow our filmmaking journey, visit https://www.patreon.com/greenrenaissance

Who is Green Renaissance? We are a tiny collective of 3 passionate filmmakers (Michael, Justine and Jackie). We live off-grid and dedicate our time to making films that we hope will inspire and share ideas.

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You can find ALL of the 31-Days Elder Muse posts in the archives here: https://wildlyfreeelder.com/2022/12/

Gaye Abbott, Wildly Free Elder, 12/30/22