Ok, so this is a tough post to write and one that underplays the huge emotions that go with it. But I am going to try to stick to the situation rather than the emotions as it goes without saying that this was a really tough day. I was at a funeral today, one of the most important men in my life passed away. It was really tough, and my heart bleeds so much for this man and his family.
sigh.............
That being said, I am going to try to write something about the day that really just doesn't seem right. I just can't help but connect this day to the themes and issues that I am constantly seeing each day. Even through the tears it is so hard not to see the exorbitant process and ritualism that has ultimately been fully commodified. What does the funeral parlor cost? And what about flying the remains to another location? $2000. How do you even handle the body if not at a parlor? What does the box of laminated wood cost people are buried in? A $3000 minimum? And a burial plot? To see my friend, who's father it was that passed, have to constantly be pulled aside to sign papers and deal with the business side of the day was really tough to watch.
What was once a ritual, to return our bodies to the earth, has become a capitalist spectacle. Much like any other ritualistic occurrences: weddings, birthdays, holidays. Anyway/thing that you can turn a profit out of. Its amazing that similar rituals used to be more simply managed with just a wooden box, someone digging a plot, a memorial given wherever was appropriate for that person's beliefs, and all was good - a person was remembered and a dead body ended up in the ground to rest. But not now in current day, thousands of dollars later and all of that stuff, and you've got a body buried in the ground to rest.
Take me out into the woods and and let me be. Let the animals eat me, the worms have a little something extra that day to decompose. Hell set me a fire to me out there if you're uncomfortable with it all. Return me to nature with the least cost and for the least profit. Minimize my end please...
sigh.............
That being said, I am going to try to write something about the day that really just doesn't seem right. I just can't help but connect this day to the themes and issues that I am constantly seeing each day. Even through the tears it is so hard not to see the exorbitant process and ritualism that has ultimately been fully commodified. What does the funeral parlor cost? And what about flying the remains to another location? $2000. How do you even handle the body if not at a parlor? What does the box of laminated wood cost people are buried in? A $3000 minimum? And a burial plot? To see my friend, who's father it was that passed, have to constantly be pulled aside to sign papers and deal with the business side of the day was really tough to watch.
What was once a ritual, to return our bodies to the earth, has become a capitalist spectacle. Much like any other ritualistic occurrences: weddings, birthdays, holidays. Anyway/thing that you can turn a profit out of. Its amazing that similar rituals used to be more simply managed with just a wooden box, someone digging a plot, a memorial given wherever was appropriate for that person's beliefs, and all was good - a person was remembered and a dead body ended up in the ground to rest. But not now in current day, thousands of dollars later and all of that stuff, and you've got a body buried in the ground to rest.
Take me out into the woods and and let me be. Let the animals eat me, the worms have a little something extra that day to decompose. Hell set me a fire to me out there if you're uncomfortable with it all. Return me to nature with the least cost and for the least profit. Minimize my end please...
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