ABSTRACT
Death is the ultimate unknown; and if anxiety is the fear of the unknown, then death must be considered as the mother of all anxieties. The obscurity of life makes us wish for magical interventions, like children hoping for some benevolent fairy to bring the perfect present. We create ourselves by the choices we make. Human existence is tragic; yet in its midst we see nobility, dignity, resourcefulness, creativity—all of which demand conscious, volitional, authentic choices to be made. The comic nature of life has to do with its mystery and the fact that it goes on with or without us. The tragic dimension of life cannot be simply meditated or medicated away.
