A fellow from Germany once emailed me demanding that I explain how I could possibly know what it is like to die… which, in case you hadn't guessed, he seriously doubted. His angry missive concluded with what he apparently considered to be a particularly vile epithet… he called me a “backwoods philosopher.”

Well, I actually consider that to be a compliment. First of all I am, by nature, a philosopher. Second, I actually do reside in a very remote, or "backwoods" area. The county of my residence is the largest in the State of New Mexico... nearly seven thousand square miles with a (human) population of about 3,500. We actually have more elk than people here. So yes... this is undeniably "backwoods."

Actually, if you want to get to the truth of the matter, we are all philosophers... we all live by our own personal philosophy. However, it is embedded so deeply into our routine thoughts that we seldom stop to think about or define just exactly what our personal philosophy is. It is rather like breathing... we seldom think about breathing, although we can whenever we wish. For the most part however, we just do it... without thinking about it.

The same could be said of a personal philosophy. It is ingrained so thoroughly into our being as to become almost invisible. But there are times when it pops up onto our radar screen and catches our attention. At such times we might ponder whether our personal philosophy is a product of deliberate thought or just something we inherited from our social, economic and religious background.

There does come a time when our personal philosophy elbows its way to the forefront of our awareness rather forcefully, and that time is when we are dying. It may lie quietly in the background until then, but while we are actively dying it demands our attention..

Some say that the purpose of life is to discover who we are. That sounds simple enough, but alas, it is not so easy to do. Indeed, it is as complex as we are… which is to say, very.

Never-the-less, we are inclined to get so caught up in and distracted by the mundane routines of daily life that we may forget what we came here for. Luckily, dying process comes along, sooner or later, and reminds us. Then we start to think, “Oh yes… I almost forgot. Let’s see now… hm-m-m. Who am I?”

That is a question we are all required to face sooner or later, so if you are not philosophizing about it already you had better shake a leg. Eventually that question will demand an answer, and if you don't have one... well, that would be the rough equivalent of flunking 'Life 101.' It's entry level stuff.

Most people are backwoods philosophers so-to-speak... backyard philosophers... shade-tree philosophers... amateur philosophers... whatever term strikes your fancy. It is well that we do ponder who we are and what we came here for... and we would be much better off if we all spent considerably more time absorbed in such musing.

A client of mine (who was dying of course) was known in her neighborhood for being something of a philosopher and for having accumulated considerable insight into the nature of life. A friend came to visit her on her proverbial deathbed and upon entering the room he blurted out, "So... what's the conclusion?"

When death comes knocking on your door and asks that very question, will you have an answer? My client did... and she crossed over (or in the common vernacular, she "died") wide awake... fully conscious... with a look of rapture on her face.

As it turns out, the goals of life and death are identical; i.e. to do it consciously... which necessarily involves thinking... or if you will, "philosophizing." Which is just another way of saying, working at becoming more conscious of who you are.

The passion of consciousness is to become more conscious.

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My books are designed to replace the tangle of misinformation that has grown up around the subject of death and dying with rational thought and understanding.

Michael Holmes

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