Opinion | Celebrating death on Día de los Muertos

The Day of the Dead is my favorite holiday because it helps me embrace and appreciate all aspects of life. UNSPLASH

What happens to us after we die? Realistically speaking, there is a scientific answer to that question as far as the body is concerned. 

I've been learning about that in my forensics class this semester. From the decrease in temperature to the stiffness of your body, we have a very well-documented understanding of all the stages our bodies go through when we die.

However, we still have no idea what happens to our consciousness — our soul. It's a question that we may never be able to fully answer. In spite of this, all cultures throughout human history have tried to come up with their own — often spiritual — answer to that question. 

Emilia Cuevas Diaz, opinions editor

The concept of death has fascinated me for a long time. No one actually knows what happens to someone after they die. Yet, there are so many versions of an afterlife to look to for answers. I mean, death itself is represented in many different ways. 

Even within my own family, there's a divide in the beliefs we use to answer that question. On the one hand, since I was little, I was taught that we go to the Catholic version of heaven. On the other hand, I also learned about Mexico's cultural, folkloric beliefs that spirits and ghosts live among us. 

One of my most significant traditions is Día de los Muertos — the Day of the Dead. This is celebrated on Nov. 1 and Nov. 2, which coincides with All Saints Day and All Souls Day in most Christian faiths. There are various similarities in how those similar traditions are celebrated, like lighting candles for the spirits. And the reason for the specific date is due to the winter solstice — the shortest day of the year.

Despite those similarities, there is a critical difference in how the day is celebrated. Where other cultures believe that death is to be feared and respected from afar, and the deceased mourned and missed, in Mexico, we not only welcome death with open arms on this day, but we go as far as to celebrate it. 

To people unfamiliar with this festivity, that might come off as morbid, but I find it particularly beautiful.

In celebrating the Day of the Dead, we welcome the loved ones who have left this world back and encourage them to come to visit us for two nights. For those two nights, the departed souls enjoy the things they liked when they were alive and spend time with the loved ones they left behind. 

With this tradition, we make sure that we will never forget the happy times we spent together instead of focusing on the sadness they left behind when they died.

But the Day of the Dead is not just about remembering the dead. It's about celebrating death itself. This concept might sound grim to some, but I think by celebrating death, we embrace it and acknowledge that it is an inevitable fact of life that makes living so much more precious and sweet. 

When my grandfather died, I was inconsolable for weeks. Celebrating the Day of the Dead gave me a sense of closure and reassured me that, even though he was no longer with me physically, as long as I remembered him, he would never truly disappear.

To people unfamiliar with this festivity, that might come off as morbid, but I find it particularly beautiful. Photo by EMILIA CUEVAS DIAZ, opinions editor

When I think of the Day of the Dead, one particular image stands out in my mind. One year I saw a cemetery filled with lights, noise, families and food. Almost every grave was surrounded by a group of people, and they were all singing, talking and eating.

Everyone in that cemetery was happy celebrating their loved ones and enjoying an excellent time gathered around their tombstones. Everyone was there to remember those they had lost and appreciate those still with them.

Having this celebration as part of my culture has helped me realize that we need to accept all aspects of life, not just the pretty ones. We need to feel pain, sadness and anger to enjoy happiness, peace, and joy all the better. There's no point in hiding the "ugly" when those are the things that, by contrast, make the good so much sweeter.

The Day of the Dead is my favorite holiday because it helps me embrace and appreciate all aspects of life. In the end, it doesn't really matter what happens after we die but what we do with the time we have here.