Mortality

What is it, specifically, that makes us look at graveyards with a sense of disquiet? Is it an overactive imagination mixed with images of the media of the rising dead; be it Jackon's 'Thriller' video or the current popularity of 'Zombie Apocalypse' movies, books, or TV shows? ('The Walking Dead' comes highly recommended..)

That's probably part of it for some people. But for most it's that reminder that people (that includes YOU) will die, will be burnt to ash, or buried in the ground and left to rot away as worm food. It's a very sobering feeling knowing that, whether rich or poor, or just 'wide' you live your life, at the end of its length your gonna die - and there's nothing you can do about it.

Authors of Fantasy and Scifi literature, are well as many philosophers (I prefer the former) tell us that our mortality makes us who we are. It's a reminder (let's call it the 'grim reaper') that we are only here for so long, so let's make the most of our time.

As Tyrell said in Blade Runner - a film about mortality at its core;
"The light that burns twice as bright burns for half as long."

Some people look to religion to tell them what will happen after they die. I'm not one of those people. Do I have a sense of my own mortality? Definitely, but it doesn't scare me. But! Do I have that feeling of disquiet when I walk through graveyards?

Yes.

Perhaps it's just one too many Romero movies...