I’m not sure I want death to be a part of my life, great or otherwise. How, I wonder, can I come to terms with death while keeping it at a safe distance? You can’t, says Montaigne. You must, if not befriend death, then at least defang it. You think of death as the enemy, something out there. Wrong. “Death is the condition of your creation. It is a part of you. You are fleeing from your own selves.” We must reorient ourselves toward death. It is not an “it” and you are not its victim.
