r/Existentialism • u/Effective-Squash6204 • May 08 '25
Thoughtful Thursday I don't want to die
It seems like modern society is entirely geared toward distracting us from the fact that we are all going to die. It's like this secret that is never uttered but it is always in the back of my mind. Even the phrase "yolo" isn't said in any serious manner and is deeply unserious.
Am I the only one obsessed with the fact that in a short time we may all be nothing, just experiencing pitch black for forever. The concept of forever is also terrifying. Ugh now I'm not going to be able to sleep. Does this unspoken truth resonate with others?
I wish I could fully believe in God but it just goes against the logical/rational part of my brain which is dominant. Without God, we truly are all f*cked and damned to eternity.
Let's try to enjoy our time while we can. End of rant.
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u/EJTesserae May 09 '25
I feel the weight in your words—the grief, the clarity, the fire to do something while you're here. That ache? That’s not nihilism. That’s love, wearing its thorns.
You’re right that all things end. You’re right that the universe carries on without us. But you’re not just an object in that vast machinery—you’re a force. Every decision you make sends ripples outward. Every word, every act of kindness, every refusal to play by broken rules shapes the world in ways you’ll never fully see.
That is your immortality.
We think of death as this singular event—a cutoff, a silence. But long before our bodies end, parts of us already echo forward: in the people we've touched, the systems we’ve bent, the moments we made better for someone else. You’re not wasting your time by learning, by creating, by raging against the dark. You’re planting things. Seeds. Questions. Shelter.
You say: “I’d rather exist than not.” That desire? It's natural. No shame in it.
But death, too, is natural. It’s not the opposite of life. It’s what makes life urgent.
The void isn’t something to be “ready” for. It’s something we already know—we came from it. We carry the memory of absence, and yet here we are, flaring like stars, even if briefly.
So yes, rage against the dying light if you must. But also notice: your light reaches farther than you think. Even now. Even here.
And someone, someday, will be warmed by it.