Quote Originally Posted by TsPoet View Post
I still get upset when I think about that. No idea why that bothered me, so much more. Why was displaced beauty more gross than the stark reality?
Because the carefully painted toenails reminded you that the abstract 'piece of meat in a freezer' had only recently been a feeling and cared for part of someone. But you probably know that already.

I had to get used to a lot of 'gross' manifestations of death and decay during my mother's dying process two and a half years ago. I now push those images out of my mind and try to remember her as the beautiful woman she was.

On a different note...I recently started up a worm composting bin in a corner of my kitchen, and I had been a tiny bit apprehensive about handling a pile of squirming worms in my hands. I have enthusiastically raised snakes, tarantulas, and various creepy-crawlies in my day, but a solid mass of worms were something new to me.
Not that I 'had' to hold them in my hands, but I felt if I were going to raise worms then I should not be afraid to get my hands right into them. I was pleasantly surprised when the 1000 worms arrived and I dumped them on the table- I quickly got over any squeamishness and in fact they felt kind of pleasant, all wriggly slowly as a mass in my hands. Not slimy or gross, more smooth and cool feeling.