Thomas Moynihan writes for Aeon: Just under 500 years ago, Nicolaus Copernicus initiated a string of discoveries eventually proving our planet is not the centre of a tidy, manageable cosmos. Instead, Earth pirouettes around a mediocre star within an ungraspably vast Universe. It took generations for people to start noticing – and giving names to … Read more“The bookends of time”
Arthur C. Brooks writes for The Atlantic: So what if we were able to realize the benefit of facing death without it actually being imminent? Or, put another way: How can we use a positive acceptance of death to help us be more alive while we still have the most life left? In theory, we … Read more“What Tolstoy Knew About a Good Death”
The Two Dudes Philosophy YouTube channel offers a cogent summary and analysis of Ernest Becker’s “Denial of Death” thesis.
The reason you don’t know is because you’re going to die, and nobody is going to wrap their heads around death. You can’t do it. It’s impossible. You can’t conceive of your own death. You don’t know what it means. Any religious person who tells you, “Well, this has what happens when you die. When … Read moreErik Davis on the Fact of Death as a Liberator
My Memoria symbolically began very early, with the inaugural Sky Meadow Mystery School event in Vermont; at that time there were just the first hints of change, tiny patches of russet in an arboreal sea of green, spreading almost imperceptibly during our magical week in the mountains. Now Fall has finally fallen; an exceptionally dry … Read moreMemoria 2024
Hillary Kelly interviews author Oliver Burkemann for The Atlantic: Burkeman cheerfully acknowledges that repetition is vital to his message—and to the way we self-reinforce it. A favorite tweet, he told me with a hearty laugh, goes something like this: “Four Thousand Weeks is basically just Oliver Burkeman shouting You are finite; you’re going to die … Read more“You Are Going to Die”: Oliver Burkeman’s “Four Thousand Weeks” and “Meditations for Mortals”
Amidst the serene backdrop of weathered gravestones and trees whispering in the wind, this year’s Nightfall invites you to reflect on the fleeting nature of time itself. As dusk settles and darkness fills the cemetery, explore tales of lives lived and moments lost, revel in nostalgia for a grand past, and grieve for all the things that … Read moreNightfall: Time Flies (October 17-18 at Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, NYC)
Author Joanna Ebenstein discusses her life’s work and her new book Memento Mori: The Art of Contemplating Death to Live a Better Life in this episode of the Alta Live podcast.
Taking place during late August of 2024, the inaugural Sky Meadow Mystery School was a free, week-long, residential immersion into wholesome permaculture practice and the mythopoetic mysteries of Life and Death. As an experiment in countercultural community-building, the Mystery School was also a time and place to learn new skills and perspectives. One of our … Read moreThe Sky Meadow Mystery School, Harvest 2024 in a few words and many images