On Death and Dying

What is it like to die?

I ask this because earlier today in my reative Class we saw a clip from Resevoir Dogs in which all but one of the characters died. And it got me to thinking what it would be like to die. Hollywood likes to portray it as an elongated experience in which one(typically a main character or a villain) is able to deliver one final, epic speech.Or its the opposite, life is snuffed out in the fraction of a second it takes to pull a trigger. Or even worse, the strangling. I've begun to wonder how it feels to die. In some cases, there seems to be no pain at all, and in others the pain is unbearable. What is it like, really? I cannot trust the media to portray an accurate description, so how would I know without experiencing it myself? This of course, is a possibility, but I think I would rather know and be able to relate the feeling without actually dying, which is not a likely possibility.

But really, what does it mean to die? What is it like, what does it entail? I think death is the result of bodily shutdown. Like a computer, there are 3 basic ways to die. 1. You go through the process of shutting down, you log off, shut down all systems, and turn off. 2. You are manually shutdown(via the button), forced to turn off because of some outside force(murder, fall off a cliff, drown in the ocean). 3. Run out of power/die of old age. Sometimes it's unexpected and sometimes you can see it coming so you try to take advantage of how much power you have left.

I've often thought about how I want to die, and I've noticed that it has changed over the years. When I was little I just didn't want to die at all, it wasn't going to happen. Then, as I became more realistic, I wanted to die in my sleep because that would be painless and I wouldn't really experience anything. Then I wanted it to be quick, like a bullet or something. And now, after thinking it through today, I would prefer to die slowly. Not slowly in that I'm being tortured or something, but slowly in that I have time to talk to someone, time to say what needs to be said(like in the movies). And I definitely don't want to be alone, I want to die in the presence of someone I know and love, whether that's a family member, a best friend, or that special someone. All I know is that if I am going to experience something as unique as death, I want to fully experience it, not go in my sleep or in some quick and easy way.

So back to the original question, what would it be like to die? I guess I've come to the conclusion that it's not possible to know without actually experiencing it. Conjecturing won't get you anywhere. And I've also come to the conclusion that death makes life all the more precious, so we should cherish it while we have it: Experience everything to the fullest. The challenge is actually living this way.