The Dawn of Nothing.
by David Cresswell, nsw
engineer, Aged 39
I've heard that sometime, millions of years from now, the sun will swell and engulf the earth and all life on it. I struggle with this thought, just as I struggle with the idea that just a few decades from now I too will cease to exist.
My father had an ambition to sail to New Zealand. He built the boat, fitted it out, bought the necessary charts but his health declined before his dream was realised. You may say his time and money were wasted, but I say that when we stop making plans for the future is when we start to slowly die.
I'm sure there are many like me for whom the idea of an afterlife doesn't ring true, but we live relatively happy lives, dreaming dreams and making plans until death comes so close it can no longer be ignored.
Copyright © Australian Museum, 2009