I am 27, and I contemplate death quite frequently. Not because I'm morbid or depressed. I just know that I will die one day, it may be sooner than I think, and so preparing myself to face it earlier rather than later will hopefully mean I'm not facing my last days or moments in a panic, but instead with acceptance, and perhaps even spiritual transcendence.

I like to watch documentaries about palliative care, people with terminal illness, hospice, and assisted dying, to hear from the people themselves who are facing death. So many of them are peaceful knowing that they will die.

There's an absolutely AMAZING book by Lionel Shriver called "So Much For That" which is about a woman with terminal cancer who spends most of her last year frantically trying every treatment to prolong her life, no matter how much it ruins her quality of life, and she refuses to even talk about her impending death to her loved ones. And then eventually, a few weeks before her death, she accepts it. And she decides to stop treatments and focus on quality of life. And then the last few pages are of her last night, and her husband creates a beautiful safe space for her, and holds her, and her family are around, and he helps her with the "dying" process as her body fights to let go. And it's like a birth. Like she has to "labour" to die even if mentally she's prepared for it now.

It was the most powerful depiction of death I've ever read.

I don't know if my own death will be similar. Or when it will be. But thinking about it makes me appreciate the present moment more, and also to treasure my loved ones since they too could die at any time.