Into the Mystic

     I stumbled over some vintage Van Morrison the other day on my way to somewhere else.  Isn't that how it often is?  On your way to one place, you find the real treasure along the path?  The cosmos gets us like that.

     I hadn't listend to this little piece of Van in a long time and it knocked me over when it fell from the sky.  Thing is, you know, I am still wrapping my head around my friend's death and then this little wondersong stops me in my spinning.  It is such a powerful, sensual, and haunting almost hymn. Some  might even claim magical and spiritual. What I know to be true is that it made me pause for a minute and just be. That's a good thing in my book.

     Life is finite.  I know that:  "We were born before the the wind, also younger than the sun"
 
     The call is to live it to the fullest:  "Smell the sea and feel the sky, let your soul and spirit fly into the mystic."

    Make room for love:  "I will rock your gypsy soul, just like back in the days of old."

    And make room for acceptance:  "We will magnificently fold into the mystic."

     The thing is, I hold Van Morrison's music close.  Common Irish roots?  Don't know, doesn't matter. His music makes me feel alive.  This is one song that I wouldn't mind hearing someday, on a warm summer evening, as I say goodbye to this world that has held me for lots of years.

 

We were born before the wind
Also younger than the sun
Ere the bonnie boat was won
As we sailed into the mystic

Hark, now hear the sailors cry
Smell the sea and feel the sky
Let your soul and spirit fly into the mystic

And when that fog horn blows
I will be coming home
And when that fog horn blows
I wanna hear it, I don't have to fear it

And I wanna rock your gypsy soul
Just like back in the days of old
Then magnificently we will fold into the mystic

When that fog horn blows
You know I will be coming home
And when that fog horn whistle blows
I gotta hear it, I don't have to fear it

And I wanna rock your gypsy soul
Just like back in the days of old
And together we will float into the mystic

Too late to stop now?

Introducing....

      This A/Z Challenge has been entertaining and informative.  I have enjoyed my familiar  blogger family and have been introduced to some wonderful new writers.  The bloggers in my world tend to be caring, compassionate, smart people.  They often make me laugh but they also often give me something to think about.  One new blogger I have encountered is The Death Writer.  I know, I know, you are going to wonder what the attraction is there.  In fact,  Pamela is an avid writer who, in her own words, writes about death because it is "scary and inevitable".  She has written a book about death but her blog is also full of lively information.  She is a witty storyteller and she can write like there's no tomorrow (go to this post  for a great example).
      When I was younger (like 20 or 30 years ago), I doubt that I thought of death much.  I was too busy planning for my future.  What would I do when I finished college?  Should I marry this dude or not?  Should we have kids yet?  How many?  How are we going to pay for them?  Where is the best place to raise them?  And then there were years of child related issues followed by dealing with their college years.  That is all behind me now.  Although I  am still interested in living, I am keenly aware that, no matter what the measure, I am surely far closer to death than I am to birth.  I don't contemplate what comes next.  What I do consider is whether I am using my time well.  I never really thought about that much before.  I marched forward, as I think many people do, taking the cards I was dealt and playing them as well as I could.  Not so many cards left to play now. Consequently,  I find myself wondering how I will live out my remaining years.  It's a natural progression, I suppose.  As time becomes even more precious, I am unwilling to squander it.  Not sure if I am or not.  Not sure how to figure that one out.
     In the meantime, though, I have become a follower of The Death Writer.  I have also secured a copy of Jessica Mitford's book The American Way of Death (revised) which I read years ago for a college class.  Now I will read it with new eyes.

Annhilation

Annihilate:  destroy utterly; obliterate
Annihilation:  from the Latin verb for "reduced to nothing"

Death: The end of the life of a person or organism;  the destruction or permanent end of something

Are they the same?  You tell me.

Don't mistake this for something more than it is.  I just think often about reducing something or someone to nothing.  Does death reduce you to nothing?
Can a person annihilate some part of themselves and live to rebuild that part?  Or does annihilate suggest there is no return?

Can annihilation ever be a good thing?