Thanks much for posting this. I had a beloved dog cross over a few days ago and I’m hoping the ‘sense of peace and rest’ part generally works a similar way with animals, or at least mammals, since I or any of the people he knew weren’t able to be with him in his final few hours, which has been more upsetting to me…

“so you might urinate, defecate, and possibly even ejaculate (but that’s rare)“

I come a non-religious family.

What you describe is called a death bed vision. Dr. Carla Wills-Brandon has written extensively on the phenomena, it’s actually a very well documented experience

Just heard Noob-noob backing you up - “Got-daaaayum!”

Being around the dying has its own set of weirdnesses for any of those who’ve had ‘visitations’ in dreams as people died. One in particular, some strange peaceful dream involving the sick person, to be dispelled by the phone ringing and waking me up- a nurse calling to tell me it was over.

Now you mention it...

I have a fainting disorder and some of the things I’ve experienced during episodes are similar to things people report as near-death experiences. I am obviously not dying, but my blood pressure crashes to the point where my brain might suffer oxygen deprivation for a few seconds.

If you get a head injury, you’ll be unconscious. But, I remember reading about a doctor studying victims of the guillotine. He picked one head up by the hair and called the man’s name a few times and the eyes opened a couple of times before stopping any response. Proving that you can be decapitated and still conscious…

Coming as you’re going? Sounds indecisive to me.

“Donald J. Trump—I am sure he has a wickedly awesome life hack.”

Jesus I could feel my anxiety rising as I read this.

Donald J. Trump—I am sure he has a wickedly awesome life hack.

That’s an incredibly beautiful story - gave me chills.

Want to die of lung cancer? Keep smoking. Want to die of heart disease? Keep eating bacon double cheeseburgers and not exercising. Want to die from a bear attack? Start poking that bear.

Ejaculate?! Wait a sec, how do I make sure that happens? Seems like that’s the way to go.

I don’t think of it as nihilistic. I wasn’t conscious for most of the universe’s existence. Why should picking up where I left off bother me? Consciousness is just a damn phase transition, an emergent phenomenon of particular configurations of matter and energy. “I” am just a series of waves averaged over the span of…

I had a friend who was in the last stages of pancreatic cancer. She had been declining for months and was bed-ridden and past the need or desire for much of anything. She took her fluids through an IV and was heavily sedated with morphine. She had been almost entirely unconscious for several days, but came all the…

One of the more interesting presentations of imminent death is how blood pressure drops off to the point where it’s not measurable in the extremities.