It’s been a while since I’ve reflected upon Paulo Coelho. Also been a while since I picked up is book. I started this journey with reading “El Piligrino de Compostela” and after a three month hiatus I’ve picked it back up again.
Paulo Coehlo writes about La Muerte. And I find it to be fascinating. The character has to do an exercise where he pretends to be buried (if you recall one of my earlier posts was about the exercise of rebirth; it only makes sense that now we have reached death) yet he is aware and conscious that he is being buried. He imagines all his friends and family speaking about him and as the coffin is being lowered into the ground, he enters into a state of panic. Absolute fear and anxiety consume him. Until he stretches his arms and breaks through. Now he is free.
Why is death feared?
Two types of death are explored: friend and foe. The concept of death, being our foe, is that it is a concept created by us, by our own fears, regrets, by our imagination. Death as a friend helps us to live. Reminds us to be courageous and valiant. Death as a friend does not allow you to leave for tomorrow what you can do today. Death IS our friend. It allows us leave behind our greatest sin: El Arrepentimiento.
I love the idea that our greatest sin is El Arrepentimiento. It reiterates the fact that we are our own worst enemy. That so often we hold ourselves back. Because of some kind of excuse we conjured up in our mind or because we feel bad for whatever reason, because we lack the courage, because we’re scared.
When death is greeted as a friend, we are at peace.
This theme is explored in so many ways and so many mediums. The one image/scene displayed on repeat in my mind is one from the movie Big Fish. Big Fish is a movie about an older man who lived his life fully without any regrets through his own stories and creativity and ultimately accepts death, in his own manner, as a most beloved friend. It is inspiring because throughout his life he treated death as a constant companion that always encouraged him to live. And to live in his way, through his imagination.
The movie is most dear to my heart because it reminds me of abuelo. Someone, who similarly lived according to his own merit. Never stopped learning or exploring. Who always kept doing. Who said yes! Yes to life, to adventure, new experiences. Maybe one day I will own half, just half of his courage and strength. He owned death. He owned life. And welcomed both. I have no doubt that he is swimming around as the big fish taking in all that the ocean has to offer.
