I pull to the side of the road. The screech of sirens and the flashing blue lights of an ambulance head towards my village. For a moment I am simply grateful that my younger son sold his motorbike, even though I know he misses it dreadfully. There were too many ditches when he was younger…
Then I wonder who needs the ambulance. Will it get there in time? Do I know them? Will they be okay? What if I was me who had died and the ambulance was going for my body while my ghost, all unaware, still went to work…?
Now there’s a thought that comes right out of nowhere and is guaranteed to stop you in your tracks on the way to work…
How would I know? Living with the dog wouldn’t have helped, as I am convinced they can see far more than we can. Ani might not have noticed the difference as I left either. Granted, I was driving the car and the steering wheel felt reassuringly solid. But then, a ghost car would feel solid to a ghost…and there are plenty of tales of spectral vehicles.
I got to thinking about just how you might realise you were dead. It was one way to while away the morning traffic. Would memory and expectation construct a facsimile of your normality that would blind you to the reality of your situation? How long would that continue? Some part of your consciousness must be aware of the truth… would it start injecting its own variant of pink elephants into your vision until you got the hint and ‘woke up’? I glanced around for stray pachyderms…
The idea that a sudden and unexpected death can leave a spirit going about its normal business…at least until it notices that things aren’t quite right… is one that has been used in fiction, is behind much of the folklore of ghosts and is part of many belief systems. My own beliefs about ‘what happens next’ always seemed to be there, right from the start, and, having had a very strange experience during a car accident many years ago, I feel I have some justification for those beliefs.
At the moment of the collision, my head had smashed against the dashboard, knocking me senseless, fracturing bone and making a terrible mess of my face. The windscreen shattered around me. There was a lot of blood. The passenger in the car behind screamed while the driver ran to phone an ambulance. Local residents came out, alerted by the noise. My driver stood beside the car with his head in his hands. I lay against the dashboard, limp and unmoving. I know, because I watched it all, quite calmly and with utter detachment, from somewhere about six feet above the roof of the car. The roof was still there, but somehow seemed to have become transparent or its solidity inconsequential; it presented no barrier to sight. I was vaguely dismayed when my body started to moan and move and reeled me back in.
I was as near dead as made no difference and losing blood at an alarming rate. Yet something that looked out through consciousness was still there. Although it was purely subjective and can be explained away in numerous ways if scepticism so requires, it was enough for me, and perhaps that is all that matters at such times.
Many people report similar experiences. There are probably many more who remain silent, but of all those to whom I have spoken over the years, all who have experienced something of this kind are convinced that death is not the end of life… even if it is ‘life, but not as we know it’.
And that was the answer I was seeking… even if the ambulance had been heading for my vacated body, I would have known…and on previous experience, would have been quite dispassionate about the whole affair. The fact that I was bothering to think it through showed it could not possibly be true. It also meant I didn’t have even the ghost of an excuse… I would still have to go to work…
Sue Vincent's Daily Echo 
Reblogged this on Stuart France.
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Reblogged this on The Militant Negro™.
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Thank you.
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Always my pleasure, Ms. Sue.
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I’ve been very close to death at least three times … and I’m pretty sure that very near and “over and out” have at least a few significant differences, especially physically. I would think that the pain goes away. That would be a big, not easy-to-miss thing. Sometimes I think maybe I WAS dead and was “popped back,” because that is what I remember. But I wasn’t gone more than a few seconds and there were none of the things people say about death involved, But wouldn’t it be lovely if life got to be too much and would could continue on, ghostly but still aware and conscious — just minus pain and without most of the needs of life..
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I believe it does somewhat better than just carrying on…but I will have to wait and see on that.
I do remember several occisions when I’ve almost died and wondered if I had…and like you, decided I couldn’t be because it still hurt. I find that reassuring too.
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How fascinating it does make you wonder. Glad you lived to see another day Sue, life is so fragile and so precious. The older I get the more convinced I am of that.
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It is, Marje, and a true gift…we forget that too often.
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That’s very creepy. I know a lot of people who’ve had out of body experiences when nearly dead. Always sends a shiver down my spine.
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I just find it very reassuring.
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I’ve had the moment of my life flashing before me… but not so much outerbody experience .
I’m just glad you’re here to tell the tale Sue. 😊
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I’m sort of glad about that too, Ritu! It has come close a few times…and his was not the only such experience… but I have too much I still would like to do 🙂
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Well I’m glad you’re still here 😚
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Me too 🙂
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Well done, Sue – and I loved the way you circled back to work. It does seem to anchor us – or tether us – to the physical. Once we get that final gold watch, I often wonder what the ultimate retirement will be like – feel like.
Like you, I know there is more beyond … and find it comforting to think that we will be beyond pain (at least of the physical sort), which allows me to transmute the aches and glitches as I age into signs and reminders that, today, I am still alive and kicking!
xx,
mgh
(Madelyn Griffith-Haynie – ADDandSoMuchMORE dot com)
ADD/EFD Coach Training Field founder; ADD Coaching co-founder
“It takes a village to transform a world!”
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I can’t really see me retiring 🙂 Quite apart from not having a pension, I will always have wor to do, of one kind or another, I think. Until I don’t…and that won’t be up to me 🙂
I have no doubts on there being survival after death, though I doubt we remain ‘us’ in any identifiable form… just one drop in a boundless ocean.
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Reblogged this on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog and commented:
Something for us all to ponder?
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Thanks, Chris. ❤
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Reblogged this on anita dawes and jaye marie.
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Thanks, Jaye x
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I am probably a lot closer to discovering the truth of what happens ‘after’, but if there is no pain, I will not mind at all, whatever happens…
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Either there will be a different ”life’… or we will cease to be and know nothing about it at all. Either way here is adventure ahead… or I won’t be around to notice 🙂
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That was, indeed, a thought-provoking experience. Of all explanations, an ‘out-of-body’ one seems the least far-fetched, which does tend to support the idea of a spirit/soul/life force separate from the body. Pity no scientific proof of that yet exists.
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I’m not sure science would ever accept what it cannot replicate. Whatever the cause, I found it reassuring.
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Reblogged this on Stevie Turner, Indie Author. and commented:
I KNOW there is life after death. If you can make time to visit a clairvoyant, you will find out what I discovered a long time ago. There’s a medium coming to our village tonight. Maybe I’ll get another message!
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I hope so 😊💜
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Thanks for reblogging, Stevie.
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You’re welcome.
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Great blog! Very interesting! Thanks for sharing.
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Thank you.
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❤
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I certainly beleive that there is some kind of life after death although I am not sure what form it takes! 🙂
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Then there is an adventure waiting 🙂
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Well-written amd thought-provoking. I have my own tale to tell of hovering above my body watching what was going on, and have been visited by my father in times of extreme stress when I’ve asked for help. It certainly doesn’t end here. 💜
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No, I do not blieve that it ends here either….I never have… but this was proof enough for me, had I needed any.
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Certainly something to think about…
I’m not sure whether I hope I’d know if I was dead, or hope I could carry on for a while before I noticed. I suppose either way it would likely be upsetting to learn you were dead, even if that wasn’t the end of your life entirely, if that makes sense.
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It makes perfect sense, but I doubt our viewpoint would be the same and I doubt we would be upset. Though, given I am usually up to my eyeballs in things I like to think are important…even if they are not really… I can imagine my last words being ‘oh bugger…’ 😉
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Fascinating how many people have this experience. My mom had a brain aneurysm and had a similar sense of being out-of-body, quite content.
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I know a good many who have had this experience or have sought and found it. All seem to agree on the contented detachment.
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Thank you, Sue. I had out-of-body experiences. It’s reassuring to find them shared.
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They are quite widely shared… but not often spoken of, I think, for fear of being consigned to the lunatic fringe. As I’m already happily ensconced there, I don’t mind sharing 🙂
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Hi Sue,
I enjoyed this post and it sure did stimulate my imagination. The great mystery of humans, we question whether there is life after death. As Christians, we hold onto our beliefs that God will reveal all to us and we will have eternal life. Your use of drawing us into a story about an imaginary out of body experience and your death was brilliant. At first, I wondered if this was a real experience. It is writing like this that stimulates me to learn and practice more of my writing. Thank you for sharing your talent. HUGS
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It was a real experience, Chuck. Very real.
As I am not Christian, I do not believe as you do, but still feel a responsibility for my life an actions. This is not something I would joke about. I have written of the accident and its cause before. I take it very seriously. https://scvincent.com/2013/12/20/a-drink-at-christmas-2/
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Hi Sue,
I do apologize if I seemed insensitive or offended you. In my own defense, I had no way of knowing unless I had gone back reading your post from 2013. My comments was strictly about how well you wrote about the out of body experience. For me, it was not a matter if was real or not, it was the expertise in writing that caught my attention.
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No offense taken, Chuck, but I felt a need to stress the reality of this experience…and its cause.
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I often think along these lines but have never had a near-death experience. I did once do a little astral-travelling but not for long and was dismayed when my body was sucked back into my body at great speed. I really can’t work out whether my sneaking suspicion that there is an after-life is wish-fulfilment or closer to conviction if that makes sense.
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Perfect sense, Sarah, and that is a question for which we will all have to await a defnitive answer…though my own belief knows no doubts. I have come too close on too many occasions to have doubts. Even so, I might be wrong and await the final adventure with more curiosity than fear.
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Fascinating stuff, Sue. I know many who share the same peace of mind after a near-death experience. It’s very comforting info for those who suffer in any way in this life. It hasn’t happened to me, but I have had so many experiences/sensations that convince me…this life is not all there is ! Thanks for sharing, glad you made it out of that car accident.
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Thanks, Van. I’m glad too 🙂
I have no doubts at all that some part of us is reborn after death into another state of being.
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Fantastic post… As you say Sue, perhaps some people never realise they have passed. Reading the comments I was struck by the near death experiences some people have had. I find it an absolutely fascinating subject and one to be frank I hope I never undergo due to the trauma it obviously involves. I should image a near death experience leaves you with a core of certainty others can only wish for.
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I had that certainty log before, Paul…but this was a ressuring affirmation. It does not always involve trauma, though that depends upon how you define that, I suppose. The calm and detachment was certainly unforgettable.
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Reblogged this on Blog Pad 2017.
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Thanks, Henrietta.
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You are welcome!
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This is so interesting, Sue. I do think people’s experiences with such things are very intriguing. On a similar vein, we have a lot of twins in my family tree and there are several stories of connections between them regardless of the distance that just cannot be explained. Great Post! KL ❤
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Twins do seem to share that bond…and not only twins. People who are very close also seem to share it sometimes.
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A very interesting read, Sue. I recently wrote about a previous life as a Roman soldier but mixed it up with some fiction. I’ve read a number of posts about death and out of body experiences recently, and they’ve had me asking lots of questions. During my blogging break last week, I wrote a post with some of those questions. Your words have certainly made me think and question myself again.
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I think many such experiences are presented as semi-fictionalised… a way of talking about the stranger side of life without too may questions being asked, perhaps. I know I have done so myself. But thse questions seldom leave us in peace for long 🙂
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Wow Sue, I’m glad you lived to tell. Interesting theory though because I’ve also pondered about such things. 🙂 xx
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I imagine most of us have at some poit, Debby. I have no doubts…even though I know I may well be wrong 🙂 xx
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Actually, your post inspired me to write about some of my own encounters with the ‘beyond’. I’d like to share it on your blog as a guest post if I may? 🙂
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I would love that, Debby! Yes please! 🙂
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Great! I’ll have it over to you later in the week. 🙂 Shall I use the ‘findme’ email address? 🙂
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That’s great, Debby. Yes please…unless you have my gmail. They should both find me 🙂
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Ok, I’ll let you know when I’m sending. 🙂 Thanks Sue. ❤
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Thanks, Debby 🙂 x
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Pingback: See You on the Other Side | Stevie Turner, Indie Author.
“Not a ghost of an excuse” I like that Sue. I enjoyed this Sue and it rang very true with me. 💜 We have used that photo for your Thursday Photo Prompt. 😊
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We have…but it seemed approriate to use ithere too 🙂 x
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💜
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An unnerving but interesting post, Sue, With each passing year, I think more about death. It’s just like taxes.
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I’m hoping it will be less unpleassant than taxes… 😉
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Nice one. Please see my real life haunting experience in my blog
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Sue, your story is entirely plausible. Two weeks after surgery, I had a raging systemic infection and ended up in the hospital deathly ill. I had a similar experience.
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It is not the only occasion, it happened, Michelle, but it was the clear, unarguable viewpoint I had that made it stand out. I think it happens to more people, more often than is generally spoken of, and particularly when the body is vulnerable.
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I think you’re writing is a very high standard and I find your perspective interesting.
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Thank you. I’ve been noseying over at yours too.
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Pingback: Writing Links…4/16/18 – Where Genres Collide
Thanks, Traci x
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Reblogged this on The Magic of Stories and commented:
An interesting and thoughtful story to share with you. It certainly had me thinking.
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Reblogged this on Where Genres Collide Traci Kenworth YA Author & Book Blogger.
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I have never had an experience like this, Sue, but there are a lot of people who have so there is definitely something that happens to some people. Quite uncomfortable thoughts to have as you drive along.
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