Pretty Sure I'm Dead

Chapter 5 -THE OUT-OF-BODY OR OUT OF MY MIND EXPLANATION

 "If I ever had an out-of-body experience - I'd try to come back to a different one."  

-Tom Wilson

Honestly, I'm not the type who is into the super natural, out-of-body experiences and the like. I am the cynic who wants every theory submitted to scientific rigor. However, as an engineer/scientist, I also realize the importance of being open minded. I know the internet provides step by step instructions on how to have an out-of-body experience. I haven't looked it up myself. I'm not that guy. My out-of-body experiences were unintentional, unexpected, and very real. Those who have read my other writings know that for the most part everything I write is based on actual events. Let me assure you this is no different. Everything I've written here actually transpired. Only the names are fictional.

Neuroscientist believe the out-of-body phenomenon may involve the vestibular system. It is made up of canals in the inner ear that track a person's locations in space. They believe this system and how the spatial information it generates gets integrated with other senses in the brain may be responsible for the out-of-body experience. They are probably right, but I have never had an inner ear problem and I have had at least two out-of-body experiences. They seemed very real to me. Of course, the brain is funny that way. It believes what it wants to. For example, my mind thinks it is quite clever despite evidence supporting both sides of that argument.

It seems somewhat of a coincidence, that all my out-of-body experiences corresponded to each of my near-death experiences. So, I'm inclined to believe there is a connection. What if I really was out of my body and not merely out of my mind? What if on one of those occasions, I never actually returned to my body? Honestly, I can't imagine why I willingly would. I'm sure my consciousness could find other more interesting bodies or other realities to explore.

What if I never actually returned to my body and all my recent memories are just some strange form of Limbo?

My recent memories are definitely strange. My sister who I grew up with became a powerful lobbyist. You already know she was good at talking people into things. She channeled this skill into much more productive endeavors than having a young boy put a turtle in his mouth. She was so good she became friends with presidents and senators. She would go to the White House to watch Razorback football with Bill and Hillary. I was very proud and happy for her. A few years back, she tripped, fell and dislocated her shoulder while checking out the location for the next democratic convention. She went into the hospital for the minor surgery to have it repaired. She died from the surgery. Strange is an understatement. Life can be freaking insanely awful sometimes!

Too many of my friends have died before I was ready. Losing loved ones is the worst thing any of us ever experience. If I were to imagine a hell, it would be one of perpetual loss in which you continually lose the ones you care about.

Limbo neither damned nor saved, or a hell of perpetual loss, I can't be sure, but either way I'm probably dead. QED. (For those not mathematically inclined, QED is put at the end of proofs and stands for the Latin words "Which was to be demonstrated."  In this writing you may assume it stands for Quite Emphatically Dead since that is what I'm trying to demonstrate.)  

If you are not yet convinced, rest assured more proofs follow.