Death and dying
![](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/ca5eb240-9e84-4199-81ed-f32ca9931269/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Creativity
idea
To be creative, Chinese philosophy teaches us to abandon ‘originality’
Whether grieving a death or connecting to colleagues, creativity enables an artful life, according to Chinese philosophy
by Julianne Chung
![A man sits on a vine-covered balcony surrounded by potted plants, absorbed in thought, against a backdrop of lush green foliage.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/ac1fa17f-0d60-4188-8435-61492f54060a/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Thinkers and theories
idea
For Nietzsche, nihilism goes deeper than ‘life is pointless’
For Friedrich Nietzsche, nihilism is a terrible psychological problem – a coping mechanism with deadly consequences
by Kaitlyn Creasy
![](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/9d4fe135-e665-461e-9d5f-b36fe19c28ce/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Death and dying
guide
How to not fear your death
You exist, but one day you won’t. An Epicurean perspective can help you feel less afraid, and even grateful for life’s finitude
by Sam Dresser
![](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/be370a30-ea04-4d08-937b-460316a3f083/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Death and dying
film
At India’s ‘death hotels’, devout Hindus seek liberation from cycles of rebirth
Directed by Dan Braga Ulvestad
![A classical city under attack with burning buildings, a damaged statue, fleeing people, and chaos on a bridge over the water.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/52cfad84-7e60-469f-bab0-d088e18589a5/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
History of ideas
idea
How the ancient philosophers imagined the end of the world
How the ancient Greeks and Romans imagined the end of the world, and what we can learn from them today about catastrophe
by Christopher Star
![Silhouetted person walking a dog on a misty wooded path with sunlight filtering through trees.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/a6fb222b-3919-4bc8-96b8-3946179a4f69/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Grief
idea
Seeing grieving as learning explains why the process takes time
Standard features of human memory and learning can help explain the disorientation that follows the death of a loved one
by Saren H Seeley & Mary-Frances O’Connor
![A skull adorned with colourful flowers, a butterfly, musical notes, a candle, and a bone set against a soft background.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/a87f0840-b0f0-4290-9055-e7ef17b4e1f2/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Anxiety
guide
How to get more comfortable with death
Angst about mortality is part of being human, but if it’s interfering with your life, there are proven ways to dial it down
by Rachel Menzies
![](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/06607d6f-c78c-426f-9b73-2475d182389b/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Sacred places
film
From the rhythms of the dying day to a cosmic journey of transformation
Directed by Simon Feat
![](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/5c7c9ce3-b650-4e05-a691-cf05ffbbef71/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Spirituality and religion
idea
Near-death experiences have long inspired afterlife beliefs
Through time and across cultures, near-death experiences share common themes and have inspired beliefs about the afterlife
by Gregory Shushan
![Shattered glass fragments scattered on a grey surface with a blurred background. Some pieces are mid-air, capturing the moment of a glass object crashing and breaking. The image portrays motion and impact.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/1aee7ed4-e453-437e-bf2a-85ac3aad8a3c/rt-final-gettyimages-820481530.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Grief
idea
Grief is not a process with five stages. It is shattered glass
The five stages describe a grief that’s knowable and controlled. An accident in my kitchen helped me find a truer metaphor
by Joshua Thomas
![Painting of an outdoor community gathering, with people dancing and playing music near a house with a thatched roof. Many onlookers are seated.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/cdf8da5c-fa21-4520-8b71-1cc88b7341e8/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Rituals and celebrations
film
Come on this painterly journey to Madagascar’s ‘turning of the dead’
Directed by Bastien Dubois