Things I don't like talking about

National Health Blog Post Month Day 19: Write about life and death

Image: French by Design

Let me preface this by saying: when it comes to melanoma, I was lucky. Very, very lucky. It's one of the first things my dermatologist told me when I found out my mole was malignant.

Others are not so lucky. One of the things that makes melanoma so dangerous is how quickly it can spread. This year, it's expected to kill almost 10,000 people.

When you're 23 years old, being told that you have a disease that could theoretically kill you is, well, scary. Like life-alteringly scary. I don't know about you, but I've always been jealous of people who are (or at least claim to be) "at peace" with the fact that we're all going to die someday. Thinking about death makes life seem both incredibly important and yet trivial. I feel pressure to check off every item on my bucket list, but at the same time, I wonder what's the point? As a result, I'm terrified of death.

I think one of the reasons why I fell in love with writing is because it lets you be immortal. When you put your pen down on the paper and share your most intimate thoughts with the page, your mind can outlive your body. That's why I love reading, too. I can glean insights on how to live from any number of other writers--living or deceased.

This prompt has been by far the most difficult one to write about so far this month. Even though our mortality is one of the only things all of us as humans have in common, it still feels so deeply personal. I suppose I still have a lot to figure out about life and death, but I feel lucky that I have time to try.

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This post was inspired by the Day 19 prompt for National Health Blog Post Month.
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