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Day 30!

This has been a journey thats made me just a little more enthusiastic about living life! No huge epiphanies on this last day. Lucy’s interview has been in my mind. I wonder to what degree the fear of not having lived enough before you die motivates people to live a better life?

Or to be more impulsive? I feel like a huge part of living life more fully is developing awareness, sitting in silence, doing nothing and contemplating. But I also think about doing everything; skydiving, traveling, running marathons, bucket list stuff. Are bucket lists an American thing? Why were bucket lists created?

I listened to some Talking Heads, one of my favorite bands of all times. I thought some of their immortal lyrics would round out my last blog post in a beautiful way.

"And you may find yourself, staying in a 15-star hotel… And you may find yourself, horning cocaine from the jeweled navel of a nubile… And you may find yourself, in the most dramatic landscape in the world… And you may find yourself, behind the wheel of a high-performance automobile that's just slain a deer… And you may find yourself, about to tuck into a dish of the potentially poisonous piscine delicacy, fugu… And you may well ask yourself… well, how did I get here?"

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Collection Week 4

Death plans:1 Unsustainable death practices: 2

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Day 29

Coffins can cost up to $30,000! What?! A more average coffin costs about $2,000, but that number is still high to me. Coffins are for human remains; the person isn’t a human being any more and are still being treated as if they have feelings. 

I’m not trying to say that remains should be disregarded or treated without respect. But families/loved ones of a deceased person buy expensive coffins like they would buy someone an expensive piece of jewelry on their birthday. The money being spent is the gift, not the actual jewelry. The “thought” if you will. 

Expensive funerals/services/wakes/coffins are expensive to pacify the surviving families and loved ones. To make them feel as if they contributed to the deceased journey into the unknown. The practice of having an expensive funeral suggests the deceased person is still alive, to appreciate the money spent on making it beautiful.

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Day 28

Today I interviewed a close pal of mine about her end of life wishes!! Her name is Lucy. 

She wants a natural burial. Not cremation because it takes too much energy, and no coffin, because they are a waste of space. Her body will be turned over to her family.

Lucy told me that ideally, her and her twin sister will  within same 30 seconds. They exit the world the same way they entered. Then they would be buried together.  “I’ve thought about it for a long time,” said Lucy. “I’ve talk about it with my mom.”  

Then I asked her if she was afraid of the idea of dying. She told me that she isn’t so much afraid of death itself, but she is afraid of not accomplishing or fulfilling everything she could have with the time she has. She is afraid of dying young.  

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Collection Week 3

Death Plans: 1 Sustainable Alternatives for Remains: 1 Newspaper: 1

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Collection Week 2

Death Plans: 3 Sustainable Alternatives for Remains: 4

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Collection Week 1

Total texts sent: 112

I have not been making weekly collection posts!I think I was just too worried to make them because neither of the things I have been consuming are all that physical. But I thought I’d go back and recount my findings after today’s class.

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Day 27

Every single human who has ever lived is still on Earth in some form. I drove past a cemetery today. I forgot how completely massive some of them are. The ground seems so cold. This is an urban planning issue. A supply and demand issue. Baby boomers are going to die fairly soon. 

“...right now roughly 76 million Americans are projected to reach the current age of average life expectancy, 78 years, between 2024 and 2042. If they were all buried in standard burial plots, it would require roughly 130 square miles of pure grave space, not counting roads, trees or pathways. That’s an area about the size of Las Vegas.” (City Lab)

Hong Kong has already come up with zoning strategies for cemeteries. When I saw this picture it blew my mind. 

The culture around death in America needs to change before how we consume space when we are gone does. And I feel like it has changed significantly from generation to generation. Cremation is now a very common, and it wasn’t in 1980. Things change, but how do they change?

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Day 26

Did somebody mention...DEATH??

These past weeks I’ve reflected so much on death so now ever time I hear even the most quiet mention of the word, my head jerks towards the conversation. I refrain from telling them I have a blog dedicated to the subject.

Today was productive. A lot of homework. I woke up very late and very tired and ate 2 Eggo waffles as I ran out the door. I eat waffles sometimes because I don’t care about my body  they take 45 seconds to make and I was very hungry. 

So I was thinking today about how consumption is the using up of a resource. Time is a resource. And if life is measured with time, you can consume life. But death is only an instant, or event as far as we know. Therefore you cannot consume death (I think I have said before in this blog: death consumes the consumer). But in the event of death is when the consumption happens. It’s like a wedding! Or a birthday party! Or any other big event. People gather, spend money, give money, and do all of these things. Maybe I should start thinking about death like a wedding. 

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Day 25

My research paper is coming along swimmingly. I’ve been spending a lot of time on it!

Spending time

To spend time. 

This phrase has always given me chills. The idiom in our culture reveals so much about what we as a society value. In this case, money!!!

There are so many idioms about money that we never take the time to stop and think about. There are also a lot of idioms about the body. But the money ones freak me out more. 

I’m going to pay my respects.

No wonder we have a consumption problem. We have vocabulary is sort of infested with references and hints at it! Sorry for the short blog post. I can’t believe I’ve almost completed 30 days of blogging! This semester is absolutely soaring by. 

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Day 24

I am home alone this weekend. All three of my roommates are on trips, and I find myself taking longer showers. 

I think I justify my water waste with the notion that I am the only person home to consume resources (water, gas, electricity), therefore, I get each of their footprints* to use almost as credit. Without feeling like I’m wasting. Because if they were home, they would be showering too, right? I’m not sure if this makes any sense written out. 

Because wherever my roommates are home, they are taking showers. In reality, they take their footprints with them. So I’m not using their leftover resources. Gah this is confusing to think about. I will take shorter showers. 

OR a different situation I have been in is similar to a “cheat day” while dieting. If I have a really sustainable day, or a day where I consciously try to make eco friendly decisions, I will have a day where I am super wasteful and take really long showers. I’m not a good person. 

*I have no idea if this is the correct use of the term.

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Day 23

This evening I made dinner with my family, which we try to do once a week. My brother recently had a child, and I love when I get to spend time with my nephew. It also got me thinking - consumption is waay more relevant to the beginning of life than the end of it. Probably because people tend to care more about new life than old life. 

I remember as a part of the sex ed unit in a 7th grade health class, they handed out a blank sheet of paper, and had us brainstorm everything we would need to buy if we had a newborn. Cribs, carseats, diapers, different sizes of clothes, baby food, were on everyones list. Then the teacher made us Google the cost of every item, had us multiple the cost by the number of years the items could be relevant. 

I think my total came out as like $18,000. But my teacher told the class it was $12,000 for the first year alone. I think the point of the exercise was to scare the class out of having a baby until they were older. I guess it worked, but also I’m gay, so if I had a kid, I would intentionally be purchased by myself. 

So does that mean I could consume a child? Are children who are put for adoption considered a commodity? Is adoption considered a business? Is there a CEO somewhere sitting in a mansion with all the money he has made from families adopting kids?

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Day 22

To many people, death has a direct link to religion. Here is a thought to ponder:

If you were god, how do you come up with a food system where one animal has to kill another animal for food? If the goal is peace, how is that achievable when lions need to prey on the flesh of other creatures to survive? This seems like a poorly designed system. 

On an entirely different note, today I was thinking about the term YOLO, which I think was at it’s peak use in 2014. YOLO stands for You Only Live Once, and i’m pretty sure it was a lyric in a Drake song. But the term was by people used to justify the crazy or regrettable things they were doing. After a year, the term was out of commission, but while it lasted, I think it made an impact on how people viewed death!

If the idea behind YOLO was not a trendy meme or capitalist marketing tactic, it would have stuck around much longer, and people might have adapted it into their day to day philosophy. Then, in time, maybe people would be less afraid to die, and MAYBE they would consume less/educate themselves on end of life happenings. It’s really hard to get someone to a place of not fearing death. Especially near the end. So it’s tricky. 

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Day 21

Today I finished up my interview with Izzy. When I asked if they were afraid of death, the answer was a strong yes. They told me since we talked, they’ve been thinking more about their wishes. I’m glad my blog has made some sort of small impact on someones life, or at least the end of it!

I spent most of my day at Bordertown Coffee working on my research paper about my splurchase, so I didn’t get the chance to ponder death very hard Although I was reminded that I am going to die five times (through the We Croak app!).

Later in the evening I called Centerpoint Energy about gas I smelt near the front of my house. This is the second gas leak I’ve reported to them this month. I wonder how much money/resources are wasted on leakage on average. Probably a lot. It must me terrible for the environment. My sister told me about a nonprofit called Mighty Earth that is about advocating for sustainable food production practices. Although this isn’t a nonprofit about gas leaks, I’m thinking about joining. 

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Day 20

trI interviewed another one of my pals today! Their name is Izzy! We met at the gym on the St. Paul campus, and as we were catching up after a busy week, I told them about my blog. The conversation quickly turned to the subject of my blog, and with there permission, these are Izzy’s wishes!

(we got ice cream after we worked out)

Izzy told me they either want to be cremated, but they also told me about this interesting alternative called a fungus suit, which I immediately googled when I got home and its actually called an Infinity Burial Suit. The suit is a handcrafted garment worn by the deceased. It is completely biodegradable, and is actually made out of mushrooms and microorganisms. Those components of the suit help with decomposition, work to neutralize body toxins (which I haven’t talked about on this blog yet!), and transfer nutrients to plant life (Coeio) . 

Fascinating stuff! The suit costs $1,500 which is honestly less than I expected it to be. The designer of the suit is very interesting as well: “COULD MUSHROOMS BE THE SYMBOL AND TOOL FOR A CULTURAL SHIFT IN HOW WE THINK ABOUT DEATH AND OUR RELATIONSHIP TO THE PLANET?” (quote from Jae Rhim Lee, creator of the suit). 

But continuing on with Izzy’s wishes, they told me they haven’t told anyone their end of life plans yet. I forgot to asked them if they’re scared of dying, like I was starting to in my other interviews. Maybe I’ll include that in a later post. 

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Day 19

I was questioning my splurchase,  but the more I think about it, the more I kind of love it...death is such a gross marketing ploy. The paper is splattered with it. Other companies/media use a similar strategy to sell things, like shock value or gross factor. Neither of which are quite as immoral. Death to me is a very private event, specifically immediately after the death of someone, which is when people love to swoop in and make money. 

I also had a jam session today. One of the songs I listened to was Let’s Go Crazy by Prince (my king). I forgot how much I love the monologue he gives at the beginning of the song. I thought it would fit into the theme of my blog lately:

“Dearly beloved We are gathered here today To get through this thing called LIFE. Electric word "life" It means forever and that's a mighty long time But I'm here to tell you, there's something else The afterworld. A world of never-ending happiness You can always see the sun, day or night. So when you call up that shrink in Beverly Hills You know the one, Dr. Everything'll-Be-Alright Instead of asking him how much of your time is left Ask him how much of your mind, baby 'Cause in this life Things are much harder than in the afterworld In this life, you're on your own And if de-elevator tries to bring you down Go crazy, punch a higher floor”

^this is Prince looking at capitalism^

....but also I’m studying graphic design, which is a field practically attached at the hip with marketing and advertising. This is where my dilemma lies....

Will he be able to find a career he doesn’t find immoral? Stay tuned. 

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Day 18

Consumption driven by death. 

I’d say it’s safe to assume, that after a long chain of associations, all consumption is mostly driven by death. And trying to get the most out of life. People don’t buy things to get the least out of life. 

I had an exhausting day today. I got home and forgot about dinner plans I made with friends I hadn’t seen in a while. I really didn’t want to go but I talked myself into it. Because I value relationships above most things in my life. They make me happy. I want to feel as much happiness as I can before my time is up! I met them at Wally’s in Dinkytown and I spent $8.35 on a chicken shawarma salad. 

I got home from dinner and had a discussion about my blog and death with my roommate. He told me that he thinks death is defined by the lack of consumption. When a person stops consuming time, air, money, everything. I explained to him that my blog is more about the consumption that happens right at the time of death, the practices and rituals. But he is very correct.