State Of The Human

As a society, we still maintain many ancient traditions and practices relating to the care of our dead. We invest tremendous resources and energy in maintaining cemeteries and sacred ground for the bodies of our beloved. In the face of death, we dig and scrape through dirt, mixing our emotions in with the earth. We create a grave--a hallowed space carved out for sadness and pain, but also for warmth and joy. We lay down what we carry from the person we’ve lost--the good and the bad. It doesn’t matter what we bury--a body, a feeling, or an object--we expect it to stay buried. We put it aside, and bid it farewell. And yet, when so much has changed, why do we still rely on this physical process? How can digging a hole--metaphorically or literally--help us to make sense of our loss? And what happens when things go awry? We may not like to admit it, but sometimes the grave is not a final resting place. In today’s episode, we’ll be investigating why we bury--and what happens when our attempts fail. Host: Eileen Wi