What is Dying

[Ianmac]

What is Dying

A ship sails and I stand watching
Till she fades on the horizon
And someone at my side says
“She has gone”
Gone where?
Gone from my sight – that is all
She is just as large as when I saw her…….
The diminished size and lack of sight
Is in me, not her
And just at the moment when someone at my side says
“She is gone”
There are others who are watching her coming
And other voices take up a glad shout
“Here she comes”

….and that is dying.

[loftysmudge]

What is Dying

That is very profound Ian.

[jimdavis]

Loved the analogy Ian.

The ties that bind us can't easily - if ever - be broken. I've heard it described as being some distance behind someone, on say a country walk with others, yet still be aware of their presence and with it, a feeling of shared experience, comfort and companionship.

Watched a good documentary last year - The Secret Life of Waves (by a documentary maker called David Malone) which demonstrated (among other things) that waves are not made of water but energy. As we know, it's not the water that moves (its motion is cyclical) - but the energy.
Part of it showed the track of a huge wave born in the Southern Ocean, to where it eventually broke on a shore thousands of miles away - making a strong connection between the human life cycle and that of the wave.
Its not available on IPlayer for some reason, but for anyone who didn't see it - if you can - it's worth seeking out and watching.

I found it curiously comforting. It helped make sense, gave some understanding - about this, the most difficult subject/concept we face - in a way that simple faith (for me) just doesn't.

[Ianmac]

It is on YouTube Jim, but not available to replay on a website. Just search for "The secret life of waves"

[jimdavis]

Listened to a repeat of Desert Island Discs this morning, featuring Adrian Edmondson - well worth looking up if you haven't already heard it (or even if you have).
His first record was Downtown by Petula Clark, which you'll remember starts with:
"When you're alone and life is making you lonely
You can always go downtown
When you've got worries, all the noise and the hurry
Seems to help, I know, downtown".
Edmonsen demanded to know where that was.
While listening to the words, it struck me that if you are alone and feeling lonely, a city is the last place you want to be. Cold, impersonal, often brutal in every sense. And yet these were the places - back in the day - that we sought out and enjoyed wherever we went in the world.
What made the difference of course, was each other. We were the opposite of lonely. Deep friendship warmly embraced us like a huge submariners sweater.
Many moons ago we went to the last 'Navy Days' at Chatham dockyard and found an exhibit of photo's of various Chatham based ships companies - small groups, together, working, or at leisure. The remarkable thing about them all, was the look of obvious happiness on the faces of every single one*. Yet most of them were taken at a time when they lived in conditions which we we've compared on these pages, unfavourably with prison, which right up to our time could be described as extreme hardship. Yet that sort of happiness can't be staged or faked. Confirmation of how this worked - if any were needed for the likes of us - can be found in our own pictures with their own collections of happy smiling faces.

'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers'.

As we mourn the passing of our mates, let's remember the good times.


*Years later visiting the dockyard again, I fell into conversation with an ex-dockyard matey who'd been present at the closing of the yard.
He told me that they had had a huge bonfire that burned day and night... for three months.

[loftysmudge]

Listened to a repeat of Desert Island Discs this morning, featuring Adrian Edmondson - well worth looking up if you haven't already heard it (or even if you have).
His first record was Downtown by Petula Clark, which you'll remember starts with:
"When you're alone and life is making you lonely
You can always go downtown
When you've got worries, all the noise and the hurry
Seems to help, I know, downtown".
Edmonsen demanded to know where that was.
While listening to the words, it struck me that if you are alone and feeling lonely, a city is the last place you want to be. Cold, impersonal, often brutal in every sense. And yet these were the places - back in the day - that we sought out and enjoyed wherever we went in the world.
What made the difference of course, was each other. We were the opposite of lonely. Deep friendship warmly embraced us like a huge submariners sweater.
Many moons ago we went to the last 'Navy Days' at Chatham dockyard and found an exhibit of photo's of various Chatham based ships companies - small groups, together, working, or at leisure. The remarkable thing about them all, was the look of obvious happiness on the faces of every single one*. Yet most of them were taken at a time when they lived in conditions which we we've compared on these pages, unfavourably with prison, which right up to our time could be described as extreme hardship. Yet that sort of happiness can't be staged or faked. Confirmation of how this worked - if any were needed for the likes of us - can be found in our own pictures with their own collections of happy smiling faces.

'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers'.

As we mourn the passing of our mates, let's remember the good times.


*Years later visiting the dockyard again, I fell into conversation with an ex-dockyard matey who'd been present at the closing of the yard.
He told me that they had had a huge bonfire that burned day and night... for three months.

So right Jim, the comradeship, the hardships, the discipline, we were all in it together, and those friendships have stood the test of time havn't they? I doubt anyone who hasn't been in the Forces would ever reach the comradeship etc that we had. Yes there were arguments, even fights, but you always knew you had your back covered. My mother always said the Navy made a man of me, she was right.