My daughter is at a stage in which she has already become aware of what it means to die, it has been a difficult path, we had already talked about this since she was 3 years old, but recently it has started to affect her, in this publication of I told a little about it here #513387 Today she told me "mom, I want you to publish what I'm going to tell you", she has heard me talking about SN with my husband, I told her to write it in her notebook, my idea was to take a photo, but she preferred to give me a dictation of what she thought, she said the following:
"I know that we are all afraid of dying, because we can become a tree or something else, just like me. I know that I am afraid, but I have to accept it because they gave me the opportunity to live. And when I die I know that I won't be able to do the things I can do right now, because I will be able to do other things when I die, like absorb nutrients or be a carnivorous animal or maybe I can have a chance to live again as a human and if I become something else instead of being a human, when I die in that life, I will have the opportunity to become other types of things, like earth or be the sparkles of the sun's rays. And I will always be with my mother and she will always be with me in all my lives, and when. I became those things, she will always be my mother in those things, because I love her very much. Just like all people are afraid of dying, but they shouldn't because they don't have to think about that and they should take advantage of the moment of life, until death comes. I will always continue to love my mom 💕"
That's very sweet.
It's a really tough thing. I wrote about my experience with it here #411704. We still have to occasionally remind our daughter why her dog can't come home and it's still heartbreaking every time.
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ohh finished reading, this situation is really difficult. A hug for you, losing a pet is painful, your girl is very intelligent, she knows that a broken or lost toy doesn't matter because she knows that it is replaceable, but a pet is another member of the family and that is irreplaceable, I am sorry for your loss. It hurts me every time my daughter cries because she is afraid of dying and afraid when I die because she won't be able to hug me, that's what she says, the only consolation I can think of telling her is that our love is infinite.
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I appreciate it.
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It's an interesting idea to see yourself as a collection of atoms that go on to be other things when "you" are done being "you". In that sense, we are constantly dying, but in reality, it is the pattern of "us" that ends when we die, and as far as we know that pattern never "goes" anywhere else but away...
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Yes of course, I understand your point. At first, when I explained to him what it means to die, I told him that it is as if the body shuts down because it has stopped working. He was 3 years old when I explained it to him. He had taken it calmly, but as he has grown, things have arisen. more doubts and fears that are actually very common and generated fear of death, he asked me what happened to his body after he died and I told him that it is usually buried and I wanted to give him an explanation as they say in the lion king, the endless cycle , I told her that we feed on animals and plants and then it is our turn to contribute to the cycle, giving our bodies to the earth to feed the plants and insects that are on the earth... the rest is her imagination.
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That's a good explanation for kids, the existential dread will come later anyway :)
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It is something natural and inevitable, we all have to deal with it at the time.
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10 sats \ 1 reply \ @Sirkay 20 May
Humm, sound so touching to hear her express her feelings in such a way. Though had to explain to her that death is the opposite of life because of her age, I quess as she grows up more, she may be able to understand better. Meanwhile she appears to be very intelligent and smart.
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Of course, dying is something quite disturbing, not knowing what happens after dying, that feeling of emptiness is uncomfortable, as adults it affects us, but as children it is more cruel, she asks me why aren't you afraid of dying? I tell her that she scares me, but I already accept that I can't control it so I let go of that idea and I only focus on what I can do. People believe in heaven, they are defense mechanisms before terrible feeling
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