Bora Celebi | Actor / Writer / Director

What is death? When I first jumped onboard this project to write my thoughts on it I was intimidated. How could I cover all of my thoughts in such a short time? And while I have a part of me [that] still desperately wants to find a way, I can’t. The letter needs to end at some point.

Interestingly, that became the best way to express and summarise my thoughts on it.

All of our lives and letters are going to end at some point. So death sets the boundaries to our lives to make it meaningful.

The acceptance above did not come to me easily. In fact, the first time I was consciously confronted with the topic, when I was five years old, I hated it. My parents and I were watching a film together, and the main character’s parents passed away. I remember sitting there thinking “could that happen to them?”. And so I asked. And to my genuine surprise (to this day) my mum said “Yes. One day”. I was petrified. I could not bear the thoughts of not having them. And so I cried and begged them not to go.

That fear still looms over my head today. It is a scary thing not knowing when and where my story or my loved ones’ stories might come to an end.

But, overtime it has become more about what we get to do before we die rather than if and when we will. I have storytelling. Acting, writing and directing are all things I dabble in because I want to share stories with people. And so with that comes an obsession of taking on as many projects as I humanly can. The hard truth is one day I am going to jump onboard to tell one last story. Maybe not even know that and not even finish telling the story. But all the stories I will have gotten to tell and people I have told them to will live on.

That perspective was consolidated when I was thirteen. After my grandad’s passing. I was sad but all I could think of was the incredible life he had led. Even though he was gone, his stories were so central to me that I could feel him in every fibre of my being. I still do.

And so, my feelings on the aftermath of death were defined. It is all about what we leave behind.

As an atheist my views on what happens after we die isn’t the most inspirational answer. And yes, if I end up face to face with an afterlife I will have some significant reevaluating to do. But I think, until then, the aftermath of our death is about our loved ones rather than ourselves.

I am privileged enough to have people I will grieve, and people who will grieve me. And I feel like so long as I can say that, life has been worth living. And all the stories I have gotten to tell them, or them me will live on through us.

 And just like that, we get to carry on. It is all about the stories we leave behind.

—Bora Celebi (2024)

Editor’s note: Bora Celebi was born in the United States, grew up in Turkey, and moved to Australia with his family when he was 13. He is currently studying a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Theatre and Film at UNSW and actively involved with the NSW University Theatrical Society.

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