It's a beautiful spring day today. Go seize it!
Often that very simple advice doesn't have much effect, and we need to be
shocked out of our complacency. Thinking about death and your own mortality
can be the best spur to help you make the most out of life.
In this newsletter you can read about the *Life After Death* exhibition
currently showing in London, Pictures of people shortly before and after
death are placed alongsides their thoughts about their imminent death. You
can also learn out about *positive psychology's* take on death. Far from
ignoring it, the science of happiness and human strengths takes a strong
interest in death. Dying professor Randy Pausch's *Last Lecture* has become
something of an internet phenomenon. Of course a concern with death, and
death anxiety is also associated with *existentialist philosophers*, and to
round things off you can read about their take on death and death anxiety
too.
You can view the complete articles by clicking on the "Read more" links,
where you can also get into the debate by adding comments.
Carpe Diem!
Tim
Life before Death Exhibition
Recently I taught a ten week Personal Development Through Philosophy course,
and, though we talked about many interesting things - wisdom, happiness,
meaning, love, work - the topic that grabbed students attention most this
time was death. I don't think that this was because the group was
particularly negative or morbid - it wasn't - but because it's the one
aspect of the human condition that is both inescapable and most frequently
denied. Many live as if they believe they are guaranteed their full
three-score and ten years - as if important things can wait.The truth is
that even if we do not suffer an early death, time is our most important and
non-renewable commodity.....
It's one thing to nod sagely at the above thoughts, another to let it affect
one's life. If you are anywhere near Euston Station in the next couple of
weeks, I recommend half an hour spent at the Life Before
Death<http://www.wellcomecollection.org/exhibitionsandevents/exhibitions/li...>exhibition
at the Wellcome Collection, 183 Euston Road....
Read more
<http://www.timlebon.com/blog/2008/05/life-before-death-exhibition.html>at
http://www.timlebon.com/blog/2008/05/life-before-death-exhibition.html
------------------------------
Death Anxiety and Existential Psychotherapy
A sure sign that we find a topic uncomfortable is that we joke about it
rather than discuss it directly . Hence the large number of Woody Allen
jokes about death - like these.
There are worse things in life than death. Have
you ever spent an evening with an insurance salesman?
It's not that I'm afraid to die, I just don't
want to be there when it happens.
....
Read more <http://www.timlebon.com/DeathAnxiety.html>at
http://www.timlebon.com/DeathAnxiety.html
------------------------------
Positive Psychology and Death
Anyone who thinks that Positive Psychology is just about smiley faces and
being over-optimistic, read no further, unless you want to be disillusioned.
....
Number one post on death in the positive psychology world concerns the free
on-line lectures given by dying and wise 47-year-old professor Randy
Pausch<http://download.srv.cs.cmu.edu/%7Epausch/>,
especially his "Last Lecture", which you can view in long
<http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5700431505846055184>or
short<http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8577255250907450469>versions.
He's just published a book called The
Last Lecture.<http://www.amazon.co.uk/Last-Lecture-Randy-Pausch/dp/0340977000/ref=s...>
....
Read more
<http://www.timlebon.com/blog/2008/05/positive-psychology-and-death.html>at
http://www.timlebon.com/blog/2008/05/positive-psychology-and-death.html
