"Everything That Matters Ends"

I was puttering around on NPR today, and came across an article about the potential of eradicating death. In the article, the author posed the question, "If a pill were developed that cured aging and allowed you to live indefinitely, would you take it?" which, of course, I took it upon myself to answer:

"I've tried to answer this four times, and each time I just get more and more knotted up in my answers. I guess what it comes down to is that, on a personal level, I think I wouldn't mind an extra century or so of youth (so long as I had a companion or two with a similar span)- but true immortality? Not so much. Furthermore, I think it's a very bad idea when applied to our entire race (or even just the affluent part of our race)- the repercussions would be, in my opinion, hideous (who's read a lot of scifi and fantasy addressing such issues? THIS GIRL...) Which means I could not, in good conscience, accept such a pill for myself. Now, maybe if they invented a pill that would keep my mind sharp and my limbs supple until the end of my natural life span... THAT I would be down with."

Anyway, then Nathan came and took me out to lunch, and I brought the question up to him. His answer came without hesitation, and I must say it was not the one I was expecting:

"Of course."

"Really?"

"Sure. I like life," and our conversation went from there. As it progressed, it turned out that his views were actually more in line with mine- we both feel that eventually you would just get tired, just ready for the end. And of course, neither of us would be keen to unnaturally extend our lives unless the other was doing it, too. Or so he claims, anyway...

Later on in the day (specifically evening-times) I was flipping through the recent journal posts of Neil Gaiman and stumbled across this one, which contains a video interview of him from 1993 (which was only a year or two before I was first clued in to him, thank you Katie...). In the video, the interviewer mentions that The Sandman is an unusual comic in that it was allowed to have an ending. He then asks Neil about why having an ending to the series is important to him, and Neil answers,

"Because stories that matter have ends. Everything that matters ends; it's the end that gives it meaning."

And I just felt that I'd stumbled across a rather lovely piece of synchronicity that does a damn good job of summing up why I wouldn't actually want to be immortal. Death gives life shape- it literally gives it meaning. You cannot understand or appreciate a thing without being aware of its potential absence.

My brain is full of these Gigantic Subjects, lately. Love and Death, that sort of thing. Not a bad mental state for an artist to be in, I suppose... it makes me a little melancholy, but it also makes me reach out to hold my husband's hand more often, and that's surely a good thing.



(In less serious musings: Rat Baby!)