I'm trying to zero in on why Dying for Sex is the best thing I've seen in years that manages to make the dying experience feel not entirely awful - tragic, painful, existential - but not awful. Any thoughts?

Dance with Death, by Hieronymus Hess, 1841, 📸 via Vatican Media Pool

So enjoyed this chat with @ivorwilliams.info and @elizabetholdfield.bsky.social 💚

Loved talking with @alexevansuk.bsky.social and @elizabetholdfield.bsky.social on The Larger Us podcast. Facing our mortality together isn't just about confronting death. It's about unlocking a deeper appreciation for life. Listen: www.buzzsprout.com/1738464/epis...

Thanks so much everyone who's gotten in touch. I'm keen to speak to just 2-3 more people. If you - or someone you know - has arranged a direct cremation for a loved one, I'd really like to hear how it went for you and your family & friends. Ta to @drkathrynmannix.bsky.social et all for the share!

Have you arranged a direct cremation for a loved one? I'd love to talk and hear your experience. 1 hour of your time, online. Calls this week. £30 Amazon voucher as thanks ☺️ DM/reply below to chat. Please share! 📡🙏🏻 @drkathrynmannix.bsky.social @dremmaclare.bsky.social @ericaborgstrom.bsky.social

What the hell is THIS? 😷

The adventure of the hero — the adventure of being alive.

UK watching Germany go fash again

Grief > Grievance

LINTILLA: ...And do you know what it consists of? ARTHUR DENT: Rock? LINTILLA: But it isn’t rock. ARTHUR DENT: Well what is it then? LINTILLA: Shoes. ARTHUR DENT: What?! LINTILLA: Shoes. Billions of them! An entire archaeological layer of compressed shoes. www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

Some important points from Simon Jenkins here - but misses what I see as the most important point of how we steward not just the buildings, but also a living spiritual culture. Secular community spaces are necessary but not sufficient for our spiritual health www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Death haunts the workplace more than we realise... But its not just healthcare or dangerous jobs - even subtle reminders of mortality shape how we make decisions at work. It changes how we hire. It changes how we judge. It changes how we lead. It changes who we trust. 🔗👇

oh BOY. I've loved this house in Camden foreevverrrr. I can't tell you how often I've fantasised about its interior as I go past it. It's such a rare beauty. A little bit of Kyoto or Santa Cruz in London I don't often get house envy, but *damn*. www.ft.com/content/870...

Holy smokes Joseph

Can't fault Olly for this, but I LOVED the Brutalist. It's the love child of The Fountainhead and There Will Be Blood. Great cinema, in other words. It's not supposed to be a documentary. www.theguardian.com/film/2025/ja...

Feeling grateful for the words of James Hollis today, this month, this time, this era we’re in: “Sooner or later each of us is obliged to traverse the savannahs of suffering. Sooner or later evil makes its way into our lives, along with loss, defeat, and the seductive…

For something that reaches the places New Year’s resolutions don’t, let @ivorwilliams.info guide you in reflecting on mortality

From new year reflection to real transformation 🌟 Final 2 spots for Mortals starting next Wednesday! Join us to explore life's deeper questions in community. £160 founding member price. Link in bio! ✨

Ever wonder if confronting mortality could help you live more fully? 🤔 Yep, we *go* there, but we do it together – in a 5-week online journey to transform your relationship with life's biggest questions. 2 spots left for next Wed! £160 (reg. £250) Link ⬇️

3 kinds of deep stories that can help us to stay afloat and find our way during moments of crisis and breakdown: 💥 Apocalypse myths 🌳 Restoration myths 👶 Emergence myths Lots more in the latest post on the Good Apocalypse Guide: alexevansuk.substack.com/p/apocalypse...

What can Seinfeld teach us about death? In one of my favourite episodes, George Costanza has lunch with an elderly man who casually mentions he's not afraid of dying. The gold hidden in the comic scene is the insight that accepting reality doesn't mean liking it. 🔗⬇️

A timely and welcome piece by Alex Evans about where we can go when faced with collective catastrophe. He revisits some of themes we explored in our pandemic report on collective grief. If your feeling uncertain of the future, it is worth your time. link below…

What if our relationship with death could transform how we live? Join me this Monday at 7pm GMT for a free 45-min session exploring this question. "Through the whole programme, we've talked about life. Not just death... It was actually really happy." Limited spots. Link below ⬇️

Curious about Mortals? Join me for a free webinar on Monday 20th at 7pm: "What To Expect When You're Mortal" ✨ Discover the psychology of mortality awareness and how our 5-week programme helps you live more intentionally. Sign up here: mortals.circle.so/c/mortals-m...

Die With Me is a chat app you can only use when you have less than 5% battery. The perfect product for this day and age: zeroing in on the human need for connection and the driving desire to get the hell off our phones. Go down in a blaze of connection! diewithme.online/

This book is an inspiring read: a meditation on what people who are sick enough to die, & who then survive, learn from that experience. These are stories about people you'll feel you know, & their wisdom is uplifting. Happy #PubDay, @drmattmorgan.bsky.social bit.ly/A2ndAct

This graph shows the emotional stages communities go through after a disaster, like an earthquake or wildfire. But what happens when it's not just one disaster, but lots of them all at once - a polycrisis that feels apocalyptic? alexevansuk.substack.com/p/once-upon-...

I was reminded of Margaret Wheatley and her Eight Fearless Questions, in conversations this week. It was the first that was swimming around my head, but all 8 are so powerful: 1. How do you call yourself - and is that name big enough to hold your life's work?

My latest writing is out, where I reflect on 3 near death experiences and 1 questionable conclusion... (link below)

Last call for Mortals - starts tomorrow! 🌱 Final spots in our intimate 5-week online journey exploring life's biggest questions. Join us at 7:30–9pm GMT to discover what truly matters. £160 founding rate (usually £250) Limited spaces left. Secure your spot - link below

Thinking about death might actually help you become more authentic. This paper shows specific mortality reflection helps people accept both wins *and* failures, balance self-interest & community values, embrace growth while feeling secure. Check out the paper ⬇️

4 spots left for Mortals starting Wednesday 15th Jan 🌱 Transform your relationship with mortality in our intimate 5-week online journey. Move from existential questions to living with more meaning. £160 founding rate (usually £250) 7:30-9pm GMT → mortals.community

What if the quest for immortality isn't about conquering death but about deepening capitalist exploitation?

Ever wonder what it feels like to transform your life in just a few weeks? ✨ Our next Mortals cohort kicks off next week, and I wanted to share you the real and powerful journey our participants experience. Learn about the 5-week programme in their own words...

When confronted with life-threatening illness, people don't just surrender – they can transform...

"There is only one liberty, to come to terms with death, thereafter anything is possible" — Albert Camus

The folly of longevity science in a nutshell: "...because ageing is not regarded as a disease, the FDA cannot approve anti-ageing drugs." www.ft.com/content/739...

🫣 Avoiding death keeps us from truly living. As 2025 begins, Mortals is evolving to help you face this truth with others, and make this your most transformative year yet...

Spent the last 3 weeks off all social media. Feels exactly like abstaining from booze: Terrible, then waking from a slumber, then a slow gradual improvement in mood and mental health. Glad to wean myself off the endless scrolling. What better use of January is there? Highly recommend

Very strong, mixed feelings learning that Fabrica (finally) closed at the end of December. So few places like this have ever existed, and I feel a well of gratitude to that place and the people I got to work and play with. Life was genuinely never the same after.

Whats in store for you in 2025? For me, its about work becoming play, play becoming life... Happy new year! 🎨✨ open.substack.com/pub/ivorwil...

❄️ Ever notice how the winter makes you question your life? I've created a free, evidence-based toolkit for these darker days...

Want to know what actually happens in our 5-week Mortals programme? Here's the journey our participants take, in their own words...

🎁 I have a special winter guide for mortals coming! A mindful journey through these slow dark months, to cultivate acceptance and personal growth. Sign up now to receive your free guide in the next few days: eepurl.com/iYEE8M ❄️✨

In a tired world of algorithmic machine taste, you cannot beat Said the Gramophone. Sean's annual end-of-year 'best songs of...' have been a literal stalwart for me since the halcyon days of 2008... you know, like when we had to literally drag our mp3s onto iTunes to listen to them on our iPods.

There is *everything* about the pain, difficulty and possibility of life - and death - in this incredible account. “I’m more afraid of the life I have to live than I am of death.” www.theguardian.com/society/ng-i...

People often ask me when I got interested in death. It’s complicated. If only there was an early experience that shaped me.

Mortals Review: your regular collection of fascinating insights about mortality, meaning, and living fully. In this latest issue: Reducing existential angst with psychedelics, the value of nostalgia and new dimensions of reality when dying ivorwilliams.substack.com/p/mortals-re...

Last Wednesday, we wrapped up another incredible Mortals programme, where a curious group of humans explored life through the lens of mortality. Here's what people discovered... 🧵