Getting Back to Life: Writing Exercise
Before We Talk About Death, We Talk About Life
This is an exercise about death. But not in the way you think. It does not ask you to plan your funeral or organize your affairs or imagine worst-case scenarios. It asks something quieter and, perhaps, more confronting:
Are you close to your own life?
There is one thing that becomes clear in those rooms where people die. It is this: at the end, almost no one wishes they had optimized better. Almost no one talks about inbox zero or quarterly goals or being impressive.
They talk about love. They talk about joy. They talk about the parts of themselves they lost contact with.
This exercise turns that lens inward. Not in a morbid way, but in a clarifying one. It is about drift and return. About the small abandonments we barely notice. About the version of you that still exists beneath obligation, performance, and survival.
You can do this alone at home. You only need:
A notebook or loose paper
A pen
30–40 uninterrupted minutes
A willingness to be honest
Silence your phone. Close the extra tabs. Let this be a small ceremony between you and you.
Move through each section slowly. If a prompt stirs something tender, pause. Breathe. There is no rush.
