I want to start off this first edition of BLOW with a challenge:

I want you to pick up a pen and paper, and write an obituary– your own.

So… how was it?

Simple? Hard? What did it say?

Did it talk about your riches, what you left behind?

Did it mention your family, friends?

Did it list your accomplishments, accolades, those you’ve already received, or those you still dream about obtaining?

How short was the obituary? How long?

Did it have a date?

Did it have an age of death?

Did it have a cause of death?

Surely, it did, it must have.

Did it have a cause of death?

What was it?

Was it violent? Was it peaceful?

Was it funny at all?

Are you having a funeral? A memorial service? A dinner ceremony? A party? A rave in your honor?

Who is invited?

Alright, you get the picture–

All Hallows Eve at hand, it seems a perfect time to think about the inevitable; our death. And although Halloween has become yet another perfectly reasonable excuse to show a little T&A (as if ghosts, mummies, cats or nurses were naturally sexy as hell), let us take a moment to meditate on the core of the festivity that inspires us to run around the streets of NY freezing half to death (no pun intended).

So, what is death?

Well, if you wanna get nit-picky, the term is actually somewhat difficult to ascertain. In fact, both the medical and philosophical community tends to disagree on when, exactly, the moment of death actually occurs, and, to top it off, how long it lasts (which of course raises questions regarding the nature and experience of time, but we’ll touch on that at a later time…).

We can agree that if your heart stops, you’re probably dead, but what if they can keep it going with a machine and the brain still shows signs of activity? Conversely, we have brain death, where the brain activity comes to a halt, and yet the heart’s still pumpin’ away…. Just food for thought.

But perhaps the question is not: “What is death?” But rather, “What is the meaning of death?”

The first answer that comes to mind is that the meaning of death is the end of life. And, perhaps the beginning of new life, but that’s uncertain, so let’s stick with the facts for the moment.

With the end of life as we currently know it, comes a necessary physical detachment from all that which we’ve come to know through our lives, as experienced through our senses and as interpreted by our brains. Yet it seems that sometimes, we may not have the ability to let go of something so massive, so meaningful, as our lives.

Take ten things you love most about life.

Write them down.

Cross off five.

Why those five?

Cherish the five that are left.

Cross off three.

Cherish the two that are left.

Cross off one.

Cherish the one thing that is left.

What is it? Why that thing?

Cross it off.

It seems that practicing just that in life can help us in the difficult transition at the time of death. Just take a second to imagine that– the complete release of everything you’ve ever known: family, friends, your work, your art, your music, everything you’ve ever worked for, everything on that list…simply…no longer applies.

But while it does, enjoy it.

And then, take a deep breath

and let it go.