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Danielle Batist is an experienced freelance journalist, founder of Journopreneur and co-founder of the Constructive Journalism Project. She lived and worked all around the globe and covered global and local stories of poverty, exclusion and injustice. Increasingly, she moved beyond ‘problem-reporting’ to include stories about the solutions she found. She witnessed the birth of the new nation of South Sudan and interviewed the Dalai Lama. She reported for Al Jazeera, BBC and the Guardian and regularly advises independent media organisations on innovation and sustainability. She loves bringing stories to the world and finding the appropriate platforms to do so. The transformation of traditional media fascinates rather than scares her. While both the medium and the message are changing, she believes the need for good storytelling remains.
Thoughts From Someone Close To Death
“I have heard it said that modern dying means dying more, dying over longer periods, enduring more uncertainty, subjecting ourselves and our families to more disappointments and despair. As we are enabled to live longer, we are also condemned to die longer.”
When I read extracts from Australian author Cory Taylor’s book ‘Dying: A Memoir’, I had goose bumps. Perhaps her words struck me more because it sounded like she was very much alive, even though she knew at the time of writing she didn’t have long to live.
She answered the questions people asked her, which in itself were intriguing and in some ways confrontational. Did she have a bucket list? Had she considered suicide? Had she become religious? Was she scared? Did she have any regrets? Had she changed her priorities in life? Had she taken more risks given that she was dying anyway? What would she miss the most? How would she like to be remembered?
Her voice was powerful in each one of her answers.
“The problem with reverie is that you always assume you know how the unlived life turns out. And it is always a better version of the life you’ve actually lived. The other life is more significant and more purposeful. It is impossibly free of setbacks and mishaps. This split between the dream and the reality can be the cause of intense dissatisfaction at times. But I am no longer plagued by restlessness.”
Cory Taylor died from melanoma-related brain cancer on July 5, 2016.
