I’ve been thinking a lot about issue of knowing we should get our funeral plans done in advance, and even—halleluia!— actually wanting to, and still not getting around to it. And let’s face it, unless you have a terminal diagnosis or are pushing 90s, it’s quite hard to believe it’s a priority.
Still. People die unexpectedly every second, the world over. And we all know it.
It’s not that we think we’re immune to croaking before our allotted time. (Though I do believe we play a strange psychological game of ‘I admit it could be any time, but still, it’s not going to be today.’ That’s a funny one. I play it, too.)
So I’ve decided, at least for now (and excepting those people who bury their heads in the sand about death no matter what) that it’s the same procrastination we use on any task not immediately necessary. And I understand…much as I fantasize about people stampeding to my door to get their funeral plans underway.
This has been a helpful insight. I would love to know if any readers (readers? not sure there are any readers here, but anyway) have any other theories or personal perceptions about it.
The good news conclusion is that, like anything else that’s important but not on a deadline, we just need to make a date, set a time, commit to it, and get it done. We wouldn’t do our taxes without a deadline, we wouldn’t buy Christmas presents on time if Dec 25th wasn’t the one and only day, heck we probably wouldn’t even make it to work in the morning if weren’t expected to make an appearance in the 9 o’clock a.m. range. We need structure to get things done, even if it’s fabricated, self-imposed, or an illusion.
And I can do that, friends. I can continue to hold workshops and events to make it easier for people to get a dreaded task done. And of course have fun in the process—very important.
Just the pep talk I needed to keep doing what I do.
Thank you, for anyone who might be reading, for listening.