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This is a peaceful cemetery in the town of Banff, I fell in love with it the first time I came here. It is located by the foot of Tunnel Mountain – a small mountain, on which the Banff Centre lays (this is where I am currently staying). To take a sojourn into town, I must pass by this cemetery. Therefore, after taking a few trips every week wandering into the town of Banff, I would say that the cemetery and I are well-acquainted.
Now, just a note on the title of this entry: I chose not to think of an euphemism for “death”. This is partly why I am writing this entry – I think with the improvement of human rights in the modern world as well as the development of technology and medicine, we are less in contact with death (at least for those of us who are able to turn on a computer and write a blog entry sitting comfortably in a roofed house, stuffed with food we just ate, hearing no over-head bombs splashing all around us). I was watching The Pirates of the Caribbean on the plane and I cannot help but to gasp at how easy it was back in the days to kill someone. Famine and disease killed so many people, no matter if you were royalty or otherwise. Also, people’s lives just seemed so much cheaper back then. You can be killed simply by the unhappiness of another. Death was not a stranger to each individual.
But I, however, have not dealt with death at all. And I do admit that I dread the very thought of any of my close family/friends dying. Some times I dream of them dying in my dreams that I cry myself awake.
When I walk pass this cemetery, however, I always find a sense of peace within me. I think being aware of the end of our journey in life – death – helps us to live much more meaningfully (at least for me). To be concerned of our fame, success, gain is really useless because no one can guarantee tomorrow we will be able to wake up again, let alone continue to have all these extraneous things take effect on us.
No matter what small or menial task is at hand, do with great care and joy is a way of rejoicing in fact that we are able to breathe.
