Can we train to die...?

If there is anything we all have in common, it is dying. If there is anything we talk about with varying degrees of difficulty, it is death. At times when a loved one was concerned about his or her end of life, I often observed this "omerta" and saw the number of people able to manage the situation diminish. Everyone does the best they can...

Until now, this aspect of life was rather taken care of by religious organizations that managed the "last moments" as well as the ritual and ceremonial aspect of the aftermath.

These aspects tend to move, especially with the more and more frequent practice of cremation and the possibility of organizing the ceremony as "you please", according to the personality of the deceased, something unthinkable in some churches in France.

In small villages, with the decrease in the number of priests, they find themselves officiating several parishes whose numbers increase as the number of priests decreases. Some rites are taken care of by lay people and it can be a tough negotiation, if not impossible, if you propose something that deviates a bit from the ancestral rites. For my mother's funeral, my sister and I were refused a text... Jesuit!

And you, have you already planned your funeral? My grandmother had it all planned and taken care of long before she died. I had thought it admirable.

This feeling of admiration pales in comparison to what I recently felt through the testimony and then death of Nicolas Menet. He was closely concerned with end-of-life management as he had been diagnosed with an incurable cancer that left him only a few months. Participating in forums on the subject, he was spotted by the Kombini channel and even found the time and energy to write a book!

I'll let you discover.

Nicolas wanted to be a part of the political change in France as he had ambitions to become a member of parliament. His glioblastoma decided otherwise...

His book describes his journey in a human, empathetic way - in the manner of the great anthropologists - from the experience of his first stroke to his concrete proposals in order to legislate on the end of life in France, passing through his (initiatory) end-of-life journey and his gradual loss of independence. In the video, he takes up a notion developed in his book: the need to mourn the person he was and to completely rethink his life. After a busy professional career, he then envisages his end of life as his ultimate project, with the main objective of "being able to die as he had lived: FREE"

For the record, Nicolas was the head of the first European innovation cluster dedicated to advancing age in Western societies (Silver Valley Network)

The world is changing, the population is aging at the same time as representations are being renewed and societies are being reorganized. In France, full consideration of the end of life is in the midst of legislative evolution while in other countries, such as Switzerland or Belgium, the medically assisted end of life can be considered.

Thus, the 21st-century human being would have the option of stopping his or her incarnation and ending it when his or her dignity so dictates...

The individual's relationship to his or her finitude also appears in a surprising-looking book that was partly publicized by a Netflix documentary series.  Michael Pollan, a science journalist at The New York Times, has an original approach. He looks at how humans use plants and then how their reputations are socially (de)constructed through media coverage and political context.

The book was published by the Lausanne Polytechnic Press. In it he explains - among other things - the research on psilocybin and LSD and their effects on conscious acceptance of death in terminally ill patients. These substances seem to provide a liberating spiritual experience for people at the end of their lives.

Thus, it can be said that the human being of the 21st century seems to reclaim his or her entire life - right up to the end - by connecting to nature ... through science!

Photo credit " Spiritual Twirl Art - #28 "Cactus Flower Spirit" FotoGrazio / photo on flickr

Sources

Nicolas Menet (2023) Faire le deuil de soi. Paris Éditions le cherche midi.
https://www.decitre.fr/livres/faire-le-deuil-de-soi-9782749177601.html 

Lisa Brian for Kombini February 9, 2023 "Mourning Myself. A Tribute to Nicolas Menet"
https://www.konbini.com/societe/je-fais-le-deuil-de-moi-meme-hommage-a-nicolas-menet-atteint-dun-cancer-du-cerveau-incurable/

Michael Pollan (2020) Journey to the Edge of the Mind Quanto Publishing
https://www.decitre.fr/livres/voyage-aux-confins-de-l-esprit-9782889153077.html

Michael Pollan - How to change your mind
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Change_Your_Mind