But that seems far away from how I feel now . It would have to be a state of being that shuts down my interest in exploring death . But , even in that state , I don ' t feel that I would lose my empathy with other people ' s pain .

One night a girl played an audio experience of recordings related to her father ’ s death . It started with a voicemail he left , telling her about his cancer . Messages left by him and other people followed before she played recordings from his death bed , his breathing , his death rattle . She then played several recordings of awkward calls , people saying " I ' m sorry .” “ I ' m here .” I love you ." When the last message ended , everyone just sat silently . There was no place for applause . Everyone could feel that death , through her father , was asking us to be quiet .

I ' d like to be more and more open ; open and wiser about this conversation about death and dying . I feel like what comes up for me now more than ever is just facing life ’ s losses and changes and the shortening of time . Everything gets mixed up and dissolves in all of that . I want to keep opening .

I want to be present , and maybe quieter . And maybe more at peace . But still in this and holding space with people and being able to look into someone ' s eyes and say , " I see it , you know ? I get it . And , I ' m here with you in that . And , you don ' t have to change it . You don ' t have to get where I am . You don ' t have to do anything but know that I ' m here and I ' m open , and that ' s my work . To be with you in that . And to be with you and these truths ." I believe that my life will be richer for it and that I ' ll be deeper even though sometimes it will hurt more than ever .

I hope that my work inspires others to turn to their pain and losses and their grief , to be with everything , knowing that it ' s work they need to do for themselves and everybody else . Because that ' s the point . I don ' t know what else we ' re doing here but to be in these things with each other . That ' s what the show is . You ’ re Going To Die is a willingness to be there with one another . I don ' t know any other purpose for us to be here .

NED BUSKIRK is the creator and host of the 501c3 nonprofit You ’ re Going to Die , a movement intent on bringing people creatively into the conversation of death and dying , through unabashedly confronting loss and mortality . The first live event was held on March 6th , 2009 , as a simple poetry night held in the golden belly of a San Francisco apartment . Now the live event series , You ’ re Going To Die : Poetry , Prose & Everything Goes … encompasses more than simply open mics and live shows , but is also an online international community creatively engaging with our shared mortality and all its inevitabilities . “ While I think there are several reasons to account for the movement ’ s success , I ’ m certain the greatest cause for its momentum and relentless support is that we , as community , desperately need communal spaces , online and off , to gather and grieve , to suffer the losses we ’ ve endured and / or stand to lose eventually , to be with one another in this often unspoken truth that we ALL share : We Are All going to Die Eventually . Let ’ s accept that fact together and see how we can use this truth to inform and inspire better lives .”

WWW . YG2D . COM • NED @ YG2D . COM

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