What a month of mourning! As I start to recover after reeling from the shock news of one death, boom! I'm suddenly struck by another.

And, as I notice the increasing number of people passing away, some I know personally and some I know of, especially in arts/entertainment and allied fields, I can't help pausing to reflect on issues of mortality. The fact that a member of my family is also dealing with life threatening illnesses make these reflections even more sobering.

Hear mi nuh peeps, as we indulge life we have to consider death, even for a little. Life and death are like sand and sea, in constant contact on the shoreline of reality. Yeah, I know some people hate to talk about death. I can just hear dem now 'why Blakka going into this morbid topic now?

Well unnu can tan deh, death is inevitable, and even if we refuse to face it, it eventually faces us. So no matter how discomforting it feels, death and dying are subjects worthy of occasional thought, serious discussion and practical preparation. Of course, before we get too enmeshed in the death side we have to penetrate the flip side: life. How people are viewed in death is largely influenced by how they lived their lives.

beaming beauty

So check how yu a live! Some people live their lives like lights, beaming a beauty into our world that burns strong and true. And they shine so bright, that even after they leave us their glow lingers. Some great lights shine bright but briefly - whether because they burn out self-destructively, get put out maliciously or become tragic victims of human fallibility - but some are fortunate to shine long. Other people deflect and shade love, and block light or steal the energy from the light/life of others. But even when dem live dutty, some people still manage to die with some degree of dignity.

Some people ensure that even though no one knows when he or she may go, they set their house in such order that in the case of their unexpected demise, some level of clarity, accuracy and decency can reign in the planning of their last rites and the disposal of their estate. Let's face it though, there are others who pass away and leave such a heritage of hurt, hate and dishonesty that it's only human decency that stop people from spitting in dem grave.

And some, whether through abundance of ignorance, delusions of immortality or malicious negligence, leave their personal and business affairs in such states of untidy unpreparedness, that all they leave for their descendants is a legacy of confusion and a litany of shame. Yes, because of pretty protocol about 'not speaking ill of the dead' many people will make nice politically correct public pronouncements about their dearly departed, while they privately curse them years after their death.

We live and we die people. We live and we die. Whether we ignore it, indulge it or invest it, life can expire unexpectedly, and whether we plan for it, try to defy it or deny it, death will come. Man a nuh brick wall and even dat can fall, so get yu house in order. Yeah peeps, plan to live forever but prepare for sudden change of plans. After all, it's fine to dream of immortality as long as we plan for our mortality

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