Hanging Out Forever

As I started thinking about new and strange ways to be buried, I found I was having trouble coming up with anything that I would actually want for myself. I'm a sucker for tradition so I find it hard to break from the established norm for these types of things without a good reason. Sure it would be neat to be made into a diamond, but that would also be a little bit creepy...I know I wouldn't want to wear my grandma, so why should I impose myself forever on someone else? Being shot into space would be neat I guess, but no one could ever visit me again. Mummification surely isn't for me. Cryogenics doesn't work.

My resounding "NO" to all of these funerary practices got me thinking about the limitation and requirements I seem to have for my own burial: 1.I want to be accessible, in one way or another, to my family and friends left behind. 2. I want to remain whole. I'm not sure why, but I feel like staying in one piece might be a good idea. 3. I don't want to be present in everyone's life at all times...distance from the dead is a good thing (in my opinion) so I would like to be separate from everyday life.

With these guidelines in mind, I began searching the internet for something original that might suit me. And lo and behold, it didn't take long until I ran across somethings awesome...the hanging coffins of Bo! Although this practice is not new, being used by the Bo people of China for centuries, it is definitely not something you see everyday. This practice involves placing the dead in a coffin, and attaching that coffin to the side of a prominent cliff.

The dead are therefore displayed to the living, yet separate from their lives, and left in one piece. I like this burial method because it seems adventurous even in death. I'm not a religious person so I have no particular specifications that say I can't be put to rest on the side of a cliff. So why not? It is somewhat of a spectacle, taking the weight off of the tragedy of death and re-contextualizing it in a unique and (in fear of being insensitive) somewhat goofy way!

From: 7 Strange Funeral Customs from "Weird Worm":
http://www.weirdworm.com/7-strange-funeral-customs/

This funerary practice wouldn't leave much in the archaeological record. The coffins are wooden, and they are driven into the cliff face with wooden spikes. After many many years, the only evidence that I was ever there would be the holes in the stone where my coffin hung. This is another reason I like the hanging coffins of Bo. Not only is it entirely biodegradable and environmentally friendly, but leaving such a strange mark in the landscape would puzzle archaeologists down the road and I like to think it would be my last joke. I wonder what they would come up with to explain those holes. Birds? Rock climbers? Some strange ritual test of accuracy and strength? Who knows what theories I could spark!