The Ruby Writers of Pagosa Springs, led by my writing coach Dr. Janice McIntyre found stories I told about my near-death experiences somewhat amusing. They suggested I write about these using my dry sarcastic wit, so here is the dramatic outcome composed of ten short autobiographical essays.
Yes, death seems so absurd, but the catch is even worse. You must live to experience death. As Arlo Guthrie lyricized, life can be about getting prepared for “hopping on that Last Train at the station.” My near-death experiences were a wake-up call to live more authentically and in the moment. All have called upon my senses to be nearer to life and enjoy it more fully. For this reason, the phrase “near-death” has been altered to “near-life.” It’s surely a luxury to talk about near death experiences while scuba diving, canoeing, sky diving and mountain climbing rather than serving in the military or working as a firefighter or policemen. My top ten chaotic near disasters demonstrate how formidable a task it is to survive in a safe American mid-western environment. Like a cat that lived more than nine lives, I accidentally put the right energy into the system in the last split second to forestall the inevitable second law of thermodynamics. The cool thing about life is that it works so naturally and instantaneously against the odds of entropy that inevitably dissolves us back into the atomistic universe.
If you want to put these ten short essays in your pipe and smoke them, you can purchase this book on Amazon for $15 at Ten Near (Death) Life Experiences: ten sarcastic essays on human existence: Smith Ph.D., Curtis Vinicio: 9798272897558: Amazon.com: Books