Hi Everyone!! I just finished watching a very interesting [and somewhat disturbing] TV show on autopsies. Typical of many Canadian TV shows - not much was left to the imagination. The body of a guy in his twenties was being examined. [inside and out] Apparently he died shortly after coming home from a party. He drank an excessive amount of alcohol and ended up throwing up in his sleep. He choked to death on his own vomit. [the vomit entering his lungs - cutting off his air supply] As I said - it was somewhat disturbing. But as I was watching that show - I tried to understand WHY it wasn't easy to watch. I often had to force myself NOT to change channels. [because I think it's important to know about things - even if they are disturbing] Sure - seeing a dead guy being cut apart is understandably upsetting - but there was more to it than that. I think one of the reasons had to do with the fact that I have a tough time [as I think most of us do] accepting that the 'body' is not the 'person'. As that young guy was being cut into and his organs were being removed and weighed, etc., I was struck by how similar the human body is to the body of many other animals. [cows, horses, cats and dogs, etc.] I also couldn't help but think back to when my dad's body was autopsied. Shortly after he died - in October of 1993 - his body was examined. A week or two later - we received a copy of the coroner's report. On it were very upsetting details. The weight of my dad's heart and brain - for instance. Odd things to know about someone who played such an important role in your life. Even to this day - I am unwilling to fully accept what happened. [the fact that he was autopsied] It was all so unreal. But again - I think this goes back to how difficult it is for me to accept that the 'body' is NOT the 'person'. My dad wasn't being autospied anymore than that young guy in the TV show. Their bodies were being autosied. And that's a HUGE and important difference. A 'difference' that I think we should all consider [and try to accept] whenever we are dealing with both ourselves AND others. [in the world of the living!!] Most of us [myself included] judge ourselves [and others] by the bodies we live in. And that's a shame. Because we are NOT our bodies. Our bodies are merely vessels that we live inside. One of the most difficult things to do is to NOT judge someone based on how they LOOK. All of our lives we are told that the value of a person is greatly dependent upon their body. [their 'look'] I reject that notion - and always have. But I'm no different than most people. I harbour just as many prejudices as anyone else. Like many of you - I believe certain things about people [before getting to know them] based on NOTHING more than what they LOOK like. I do the same thing to myself. I've hated certain 'things' about MY body for as long as I can remember - and judge my worth as a person on those 'things'. If only this or that was different - THEN I'd be a worthy person. How sad. But I'm sure I'm not alone. I'm willing to bet that most of you do exactly the same thing. I've often thought that it would be very interesting to put 100 strangers into a darkened room - and allow them time to get to know each other. I can't help but think that most of the people that they said they liked - IN THE DARK - are not the same people they would 'like' in the LIGHT. [because they would never even bother to 'look' beyond the body] Just something to think about. GREAT BIG HUGCraig!!