Being One with the Universe: Finding a Silver Lining in Dying

Woody Allen once quoted, "I don't mind dying so much, I just don't want to be there when it happens" (as cited in Ingram, 2002, p. 1). Oftentimes, death is not a happy subject, a reality that most of us fear, yet something we all must face. In this paper, three articles were reviewed that explored the living-dying (Phillips, 1992) process of the terminally ill and the material was conceptualized in light of Rogers (1994) science of unitary human beings. To further understand and explore the living-dying process, creative examples (movie screenplay, novel, song and others) were cited. During the living-dying process exploration, three common themes were expressed by the subjects (dying persons), namely: valuing own perspective of quality of life; choosing personal meanings with ways of moving beyond with the possibles (Lee & Pilkington, 1999), while focusing on life's meaning rather than life's details (Dobratz, 2002); and connecting to the world-as-unknown while self-separating to the world-as-known in actively seeking the union with death (Kubler-Ross, 1981; Callanan & Kelly, 1992; Dobratz, 2002). It is important for healthcare providers to recognize and acknowledge all three themes to be able to understand dying persons, to focus on their wholeness rather than their disease, and to help families discern symbolic messages conveyed by them. Moreover, knowing these themes also enables healthcare providers to help all parties to transition and be able to accept and embrace the most difficult process—the living-dying (Phillips, 1992) process.