Reflective Essay On My Funeral

When I die, I want to be cremated. My wishes to be cremated does not stem from any Hindu beliefs, but a fear of taking up Earth’s precious space. I want my ashes to be spread across four different geographic areas that align with Earth, air, fire, and water. The focal point of my funeral will be life, not death. In addition, I want the theme to be revolved around natural notions because death is natural. This homage to the natural closely aligns with how I live as well. My personal mantra is to treat my body like a temple both physically and mentally. This closely resembles certain Hindu practices or beliefs which I have personally adapted from my Indian grandparents. Although I would not classify myself as religious and do not follow any organized …show more content…
I want my particular funeral rights to be healing and make them all feel how natural death is. The gardening and seeing life grow out of death will be beneficial for the living bereaved. In addition, the nature funeral rites should have a calming effect during a stressful time. Although the funeral is to honor me and reflect how I live my life, I want the emphasis on the living and life. My funeral will be an event where all of my loved ones will gather and support one another. Moreover, after one year has passed, they will all gather again in my honor to help others and reflect on their grief/healing with others. This second meeting is important to me because it will ensure that my loved ones will deal with their grief and have social supports. I want my death to keep my family and friends unified and close …show more content…
This process allowed me to reflect on my own grandmother’s funeral that was about a year ago. She was cremated and had a memorial service. Her specific wishes were that she did not want her body to be shown due to her fight with cancer. This upset my grandfather, but I now see this notion as a maternal instinct. She always put others before herself and wanted to continue even after she died. Moreover, I can now recognize the aspects of her service that caused me to confront my grief. I volunteered to create a slide show for the service and had to look through at least two hundred pictures. At the time, it was emotionally tolling; however, now I remember her and the special moments we shared from those pictures and not her dying in front of me. My grandmother died in our house and those images bothered me. However, watching the slide show over and over again replaced those sad images of her. In addition, when I was creating my fantasy funeral, it allowed for self-reflection. It made me realize how in touch with nature I am and how important having a funeral is to me. Prior to this class, I did not want to have a funeral or service. I did not want to burden my family members or make a big deal out of my death. This process caused me to revaluate this notion and realize how important the services is to me and my loved ones. Moreover, it caused me to acknowledge the notion that I will die; this is