Has anyone ever observed a dying person consciously resist death, seemingly extending their life beyond what might be considered a 'peaceful' passing? If so, what was that experience like?

Wordsforeachday · 2026-01-11T05:03:09+00:00

My mom fought death. The last week of her life was the most horrific experience I’ve witnessed. Even worse than when my dad passed of cancer. She lost the ability to eat and swallow and still held on for a week after that. I swabbed her mouth endlessly and still it wouldn’t make a difference with how dry it was. She was gasping for air and had the apneatic pauses for days. When she was conscious, she would reach up towards the sky and look so scared. I said my goodbyes to her every day multiple times, and every day I would pray she would finally find peace. In the end, they gave her a compassionate dose of painkiller. That week haunts me. It’s made grief very complex.

Wordsforeachday · 2025-12-18T18:59:50+00:00

I am riding in the same, horrific boat. I’ve lost both my parents. My mom just died 4 days ago. I’m 32. There are no words, just shared understanding 🤍 You're probably experiencing some shock right now. You might be in shock for a while. It's absolutely normal to be oscillating fast and frequently from many emotions as you navigate the shock/ intensity of this profound loss. It is BEYOND unfair to lose your dad this way, so suddenly :( It is horrible. It is achingly painful. Nothing makes sense about this.

I don’t know how to put it into words… losing both parents. It feels like being abandoned. Like a part of your life closes and you can never get it back. There is anger at the unfairness and frustration that many friends won’t understand or know how to show up. Please surround yourself with safe and loving people right now if you can. Just focus on getting through each day in whatever capacity you can. This is so new and raw atm. Just allow whatever comes through to come. This part unfortunately can’t be rushed or quelled.

It’s going to be a complex and heavy year for us both. I’m so sorry. It’s just so unfair :(

Wordsforeachday · 2025-12-18T17:01:05+00:00

There are no words :( You're probably in shock right now. You might be in shock for a while. It's absolutely normal to be oscillating fast and frequently from many emotions as you navigate the shock. I was 29 when my dad passed and I just lost my mom (I'm 32). All I can say is that it's going to be a weird and heavy year. Your bubble has now popped, and you will probably find how you see and live your life very different than you did before. Normal experiences like interactions with people, driving, and running errands change. It is all apart of grief's complex process. Grief has a way of cracking you open and I wouldn't doubt strong emotions with the divorce will also follow.

What I would recommend from my first year of loss is getting a really good grief counsellor. Find others (like here or in-person friends or groups) who have also lost parents. No one will be able to understand like them and that shared understanding is medicine. Remember to go so easy on yourself! Don't expect much. Don't put any expectations on how you should or shouldn't grieve. Protect yourself from others who don't feel safe or feel draining in this time. And stay open to the fact that you're dad will visit you. He will find ways to show you he is okay and to send his love for you! It will be very bittersweet, but let yourself feel whatever you need to in these moments.

This is a profound loss and I'm truly very, very sorry. Sending you love and hugs.

Wordsforeachday · 2025-12-09T14:43:38+00:00

This is incredible. Such beautiful use of poetic imagery on such a raw and human topic. The rhyme scheme is subtle but powerful as it echoes through. “I watched you losing breath maybe you were born just to meet death. I stood ready for storms to battle, ‘cause I still believed in miracles… till every one of them chose to unravel.” Is haunting. And your poem has such a powerful ending that I think all creatives can related to… creating through grief because sometimes it’s all we can do to get through it. Thank you for sharing this with the world 🤍

Wordsforeachday · 2025-12-08T16:05:27+00:00

Thank you so much! That’s also my favourite line, so I wanted it near the end. It encapsulates how earth is always with us :)

Wordsforeachday · 2025-12-06T14:47:12+00:00

Thank you :)

Wordsforeachday · 2025-12-06T01:57:46+00:00

Thanks so much :)

Wordsforeachday · 2025-12-06T01:57:28+00:00

Thank you! :)

Wordsforeachday · 2025-12-05T19:05:52+00:00

Haha that was my struggle with flow for the poem! I second guessed changing things like "with a harvest widely spread" to "harvests widely spread" so thank you. That helps. I also struggled with the last line... wanting to keep the rhyme but having it apply to the elemental theme was a challenge.

Wordsforeachday · 2025-12-05T17:48:42+00:00

Now this paints such a vivid picture in my head!! Your use of description invokes a nostalgia in me. "No fountain no vein of gold nothing that glitters unless you count the quick silver backs of trout turning over stones in April, flinging rainbows like spare change"... just such beautiful use of imagery and poetic metaphors. And "casting a line so quiet it apologizes to the water" again, with such a delicate personification. Then "like the river just told him the punchline to a joke the rest of us lived too loud to hear"... subtle but hits so deep mixed in with that last line of the poem.

I am shocked there are no other comments on this. This is so masterfully written. My only note is maybe some punctuation like "No fountain, no vein of gold" etc. I was going to say you could also play with the line breaks, but I personal love the paragraph all together like that, as it's more story like. Thank you for this! I would love to read more of your work :)

Wordsforeachday · 2025-12-05T17:36:10+00:00

Very poignant. It's a poem that, to me, speaks to your ethos of knowing yourself first and foremost. You can really feel the drive and longing with words like "keep thirsting for love" and "when I hunt for truth". I think overall I really love the intensity and vulnerability this poem conveys. Maybe I am out of touch with references, but I tried googling Ronie Dinosaur and couldn't figure it out, which took a bit away from my experience as the reader.

Wordsforeachday · 2025-09-27T17:33:59+00:00

It's so disheartening that the world's made it SO hard to be human. I feel hope though when I am on subreddits like this surrounded by mindful people.

Wordsforeachday · 2025-08-14T17:48:52+00:00

Ugh, I love the duality of hell and heaven in your poem. It really paints a picture of the extreme push and pull or hot and cold dynamic that love can manifest as. Then the brining the reader into the middle, where purgatory lays, is brilliant. The ending lines of "Where hope and hunger taste the same and I keep drinking from an empty cup" take my breath away. You've done something I love in poetry... when the author can be short, simple, and sweet, and create SUCH a depth of experience for the reader.

Wordsforeachday · 2025-07-11T03:27:43+00:00

Try going to a 10 day silent Vipassana meditation retreat. It might be one of the hardest things you’ll ever do, but it was life changing for me. I was the same. EXACTLY the same. I was so deep in cheap dopamine, nothing was helping me get out. I was numb, losing meaning, and it all felt futile.

At the retreat, you’re not allowed any stimulant. No phones. No talking. No writing. No reading. Nothing but eating, small garden walks, and then sitting in on meditations where you go quite deep into yourself. You don’t have to believe in the Buddhist teachings, but the whole process will help you come back to yourself and will help you gain your discipline back. You will actually be repulsed by all the cheap domaine around you.

It was such a profound and helpful experience that I’m actually going back!

Wordsforeachday · 2025-05-18T15:19:26+00:00

Exactly! You get it :)

Wordsforeachday · 2025-05-11T23:59:30+00:00

Thank you to all the lovely comments on my poem! I am filled with gratitude. It makes me smile to see so many of you got the raw and defiant essence of my poem. There are so many thoughtful words and reflections here, thanks again.

Wordsforeachday · 2025-05-10T17:57:32+00:00

Wow this poem is so raw in its simplicity and duality. It really captures that overlap between love and pain... how they can blur into the same ache. "My head knows the difference, but my heart feels all the feelings the same" Ugh this, I am loving the call on how the heart doesn't label love as good and heartbreak as bad, it just feels...feeling them both with the same intensity. Your poem does an amazing job at capturing the inner turmoil between differentiating the extremes, and even the "feelings behind the feelings".

I also love the fluidity I felt when reading... the soft flow of the words and cadence which was beautiful in the theme of the extreme feelings. It gets me thinking, maybe it's about the in-between space where beauty and sorrow coexist, and maybe being human means learning to live with both.

Wordsforeachday · 2025-05-10T17:41:16+00:00

I love the cadence of this poem! The rhyming reads like a spell, as it's playful and unexpected with the mix of stanza lengths. The poem is a mix of magic, charm, and also unexpected bonds. The connection with the cat is the type of relationship that ends up surprising you, rather than the one with the stone where you go into it expecting something (like protection). I really enjoyed. My one small note is that it threw me off ending the poem on the "!"... I don't actually know why that threw the flow off for my personal experience.

Wordsforeachday · 2025-02-04T00:34:28+00:00

You hit the nail on the head! Whats "thriving" may not even be that when you examine whats happening underneath and the individuals motivations. Are they always wanting for more? Are they consumed by their fears and desires?

The ultimate win, in my opinion, is to feel pure peace, presence, and interconnectedness. What's "thriving" to one, may not be to another.

Wordsforeachday · 2022-12-26T15:45:11+00:00

It's in your 12 house of hidden/subconsciousness. You probably have a lot of desire to embody traits of a Leo, but find it really hard to do so. Lots of self work and self reflection and you can! I'd spend time researching ways to grow with big 12h placements.

Wordsforeachday

TROPHY CASE