By now, most of you know that I'm an atheist. The very idea of a god seems absurd to me, but after a lot of personal introspection, I think I do much the same as my religious brothers: I change reality to suit my needs.
When my wife died 10 years ago, my life, as I knew it then, ended. She was so much a part of my inner "self" that I went through a prolonged period of stress and depression, but came out of it with a new twist that allows me to keep my own "faith" yet deal in a realm of myth that is both true and fictitious.. I picture her in me. We talk. We laugh. I ask her questions. She never speaks. It's all a game, of course, but a game built, in a way, on reality, as all those little "bits" in my brain that have accumulated over the years with her are still there, though the object is gone for good. It's true and it can be measured! The bits are still there, though the body is gone, and isn't that what counts in life?  I am a lucky guy.
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