I am a vessel, a cavity filled with fleshy, slippery parts. Odors and fluids encapsulated in organs all squished together inside a cage of bone and skin constitute my physical presence in this place.  My myriad of parts are connected via tubes large and small carrying various chemicals and impulses throughout the networks of my being. Even now as I type this innumerable processes are occurring within my physical cavity to create the motion of my hand’s recording these words you are reading.

Is that it?  Am I just this collection of slimy lumps held together by calcium, cartilage, and a dermic wrap?  Is there nothing more to me?  If that is the case then when I die, when this fleshy vehicle ceases to function, then that will be the end, forever. If that is true then my thoughts, memories, and individuality will be no more. Just as when I am asleep, I will no longer be aware of existing. I will no longer smell the damp earthy-clean air after the rain. I will no  longer see the brilliant sun warming the east hills as it rises, and I will never again feel its rays radiating down upon my face. To all of the people I know, all who have been on my path at one time or another, I will be gone forever. Whatever words were left unspoken, whatever secrets yet untold, they will remain forever silent. I will no longer be…