Day 78.

The convention in Chicago was fun and informative though I didn't have time to write at all while I was away. The overall travelling experiance wasn't that much fun because of all the layovers and being stuck on planes and in airports way longer than I was suppossed to. That is life though. The major delays did provide me with the chance to read a book on euthanasia by an author i really enjoy and respect as an itellectual. he is Dr. Scott Peck who is not only a medical doctor, but also a psychiatrist and amateur theologin. i want to read all of his books though the one I read this weekend is only the second of his I have read. The book was extremely interesting, aiming to heat debate on a topic that when the book was written was really quite non-existant. Dr. Peck, like myself is a moderate and, feeling that a subject is much more likely to be treated correctly by the masses when their is strong polarized debate, sought to create such a debate. I think he is incredibly wise in doing so though that isn't my point in writing. One of the issues Peck addressed was that humans die a thousand times befroe they physically are no more. Die in the sense that we have to kill parts of what Peck defines as our ego over and over agin through out our lives to be healthy beings. An example: I notice that the child i babysit never wants to play board games with me. In fact on day we are playing they burst into tears and refuse to play the game. On further reflection i notice that the childs reaction is a result of my own extreme competitvness. In order to be a good babysitter and establish(heal) a good relationship with the child I have to put aside my competitiveness, or at least a part of it. (*Which is actually a modified example of one Peck provided.) Depending on how competitve someone i am that could be extremely difficult and would be killing a part of my ego. Peck explains this psychological happening to accomplish a few things I think. One is to relate that dying is a purifying procces of the human for those that choose to use dying as a learning experiance. Another is to communicate that giving up control over one's own life is neccessary in various area. In the above situation I would be giving up my control over a game and/or my own desire to be competitive for someone amd/or something else. Peck relates that to death, saying in order for someone to have a "good" death they have to give up control over their body and accept that they really have no control over their living or dying. While I at first thought peck was pro-euthanasi I discovered as I read further that he was against killing oneself because it would prevent the psychological healing dying creates--for those who are willing to grow...many are not willing to grow mentally...) Though for clarification sakes i must say that Peck strictly defines euthanasia and is not in the least bit for largly heroic acts of healing in the face of terminal illnesses and feels that most illnesses should simply be allowed to take their course when potential cures have failed.

The book was really great, well written and explained in a way that my short summary of his 200 and something pages falls short of.