We have come to define ourselves by our mortality and our belief in the possibility of immortality. Of these two aspects mortality is the most apparent and most readily experienced as we travel through life. We are aware from an early age that our time is finite, in fact the measurement and awareness of time only serves to emphasise the act of decay. If we are lucky then we live a long and full life but this invariably means that we will see friends and family fall around us. Immortality, and our need to believe in it being our destiny, can be verified through the observation that every major religion offers us glowing descriptions of the afterlife. Indeed, without a religious prompting I wonder if a concept so abstract would occur to any of us? After all, examples of causality and effect are to be readily seen around us. If we puncture a football then it will deflate and stay deflated. We do not have a concept of it continuing to exist afterwards inflated in some hidden place beyond our perception. Conversely, when someone dies there a directly observable loss of life yet we tend to believe that they have moved on to exist in a higher plane. We seem to need a belief and do not care that by its nature it cannot be substantiated. We have an inherent weakness for what may be seen as whimsy, to recognise it as such is not to deny anyone’s religious or philosophical convictions but merely to recognise a compulsion. A compulsion so strong that I would venture Death is one of the few subjects about which very few of us can be dispassionate.

The first question we must face is "just how do we define death?" To "stop breathing" or "cease to exist" may be accurate to the point of being entirely incontrovertible but they do not describe how the definition may influence us. To use this as a way of looking at what it means to us personally we need to look out wider. Humanity strides across the Globe and ventures out into space - master of all things up to, and including, creation. There is still much to learn but we have long since moved away from needing to increase our knowledge for the sake of survival or even comfort. There are sections of our World community who still lack basic resources but influences other than technological stand in the way of their contentedness. Even as I type this final preparations are underway to unlock the secrets of initial creation from nothing (the undeniably Futurist sounding "Big Bang") under the chocolate box landscape of Switzerland. On a wider yet more basic level there is the act of conception, the creation of life from within that is open to virtually everybody. Perhaps the most magical of acts applied with almost the greatest democracy - empowerment after all comes from the gift of enablement. There is however one aspect of life and nature that eludes our efforts for knowledge and control and that is death. No matter how much we may improve or assist our bodies they will always ultimately fail us. There may be some catastrophic trauma, some as yet incurable disease that brings us to a premature end but even without this the substance of us decays until the point where life cannot be maintained. It is some irony that the only thing more consistently applied than the ability to create life is the inevitability of losing it. There is a subtlety that I would like to comment on and that does in itself pose questions regarding the nature of death. If we should lose our faculties or our individuality does this constitute "death?" Certainly, if we take the "cease to exist" definition above as being valid, then this must be considered. I would venture that as well as physical death there is also the possibility of spiritual death. I do not talk of - or discount - any religious or atheistic principles but use the term "spiritual" to encompass those facets of self that are not purely biological. No matter what one’s views it is inescapable that there is an ethereal influence that defines a person’s character and mental experiences, to me "spirit" is as valid a term as any other. I believe that a spiritual death is possible; if our spirit is lost then we exist on the same plane as cattle. Everything that makes us special and unique has expired.

So, how do we cheat the inevitable? All of us have the chance of attaining immortality, to some it comes naturally whilst the rest of us must decide first whether we want it, and then secondly exactly how we go about acquiring it. To those few in the first group this essay is of little consequence, except perhaps merely to open their eyes to their ultimate destiny. It is my belief that the secret to immortality is to embrace our frailty and physical corruption; the possibility of its attainment through the extension of life is a fallacy useful only to writers of fiction. Once we have done this it frees our imagination to consider the alternatives. If we cannot impart immortality to our body then we must make sure that the essence of our spirit is actively remembered in the future. It is through the medium of historical record that we can live forever but to do this we must first achieve something worthy of note. This is by no means the whole story though; it is easy to gain immortality if we jettison our humanity and our principles. It is my view that the same conditions apply with this pragmatic definition, as with any religious definitions of the afterlife. If we accept that the active recollection of us, and what we have achieved, is indeed our afterlife then Hitler and Stalin have attained immortality. However such were their crimes that they are eternally damned. Damnation is not something that I wish for myself; therefore to be remembered is not in itself enough. If I am to attain the immortality I wish it must be through the pursuit of excellence with regard to a goal possessed both of worth and nobility. It has to add to the human condition, it has to inspire and it has to be instilled with an honestly earned pride.

I hope that by reading this others are inspired, but can only write with authority on how it relates to my personal outlook. It has always struck me that to consider death is an intimidating activity. The concept of just not "being" is truly frightening; the "welcoming of sweet oblivion" is definitely not for me. Although the realisation of the theories above does not remove this ultimate dread, it does give me a different perspective. It is a force driving my will to try and achieve something exceptional and positive, rather than purely drawing me into a dark place of introspection and fear. Therefore for me it is something that is inspirational. I have embraced my mortality, although the concept still frightens me its existence helps me to focus on the need to dynamically apply myself and maximise any opportunities. Lacking the luxury of enough time, to see and do everything I would like, is a powerful incentive. In every way I am spending my life working towards my epitaph and I want it to be something truly glorious. When at work, feeling the constriction of oppression, the daily grind destroying my soul, I remind myself that I have not yet done enough. My individuality and creative drive cannot be let go because my place in history has yet to be earned. Allied to this I have a constant fear of being unremarkable, a fear that is highly likely to be well founded. However if this is accepted and the effort not made to try and at least disprove it, then it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. I am not yet ready for Death but when She comes I will only accompany Her willingly if there is certainty a part of me will go on forever. It is from this that I find the self-belief required to continue in my writing and painting. From it also comes the need to achieve, the relentless drive to improve – and from all this comes the hope of eventual immortality.