existentialism | Matthew Dicks

If you know me at all, you’ll know that I suffer from a persistent, constant, never-ending existential crisis. I think about death all the time. More that you could ever imagine. In an effort to alleviate my concerns and perhaps offer me a little peace, one kind reader sent me this cartoon. But there’s one…

Want to know how I think? How I exist? I was standing on the Old Drake Hill Flower Bridge in Simsbury, CT with my wife and children. It was a spectacular fall day. Blue skies. Warm temperatures. Laughing children. I look over the bridge and spot this leaf, floating down the river. Here is what…

A mental health therapist recently said this in a comment to a post on the blog: “I frequently try to bring on an existential crisis in a client to help them find what is most important to them.” I thought this comment was fascinating. I’ve often said that my alarmingly frequent near-brushes with death drive…

Ever since our cat, Owen, died last month, my four year-old son Charlie has been obsessed with death. Specifically his own death. This has not been good for me, given that I am obsessed about my own death more than anyone else on the planet. My mortality is something that I consider on a (no exaggeration)…

Somehow a discussion about how the transporters work on Star Trek had me in an existential panic. Granted, this is easier to accomplish with me than most people, but still. This is both fascinating and a little terrifying, even if you’re not a Star Trek fan.

My three year-old son: “I slept so long last night, Daddy, and I didn’t die.” Apparently Charlie and I share exactly the same fear as we lie down each night. Poor boy.

If you know me at all, you know that an enormous part of my mental energy is directed at my relentless fear of death. It is more constant and overwhelming than you could ever imagine. And perhaps for good reasons. Two near-death experiences (one and two) involving paramedics and CPR and an armed robbery that resulted in…

I had a dream last night that I needed to be at a wedding in four hours but was more than four hours away. I started driving like a maniac, but I knew I’d never make it. Traffic. Rain. A billion stops signs. The world was conspiring against me. Somehow I suddenly realized that I…

The Telegraph reports on a Brazilian man who died after a cow fell through his roof and landed on top of him. As a person who suffers from an ongoing, intense existential crisis, the last thing I want to hear about is a new way to die. The world is perilous enough already. From The…

Slate’s John Dickerson writes about the regret he feels about not inviting his parents’ friends to his wedding for Slate’s wedding issue. This paragraph, which deals with parenthood, was especially poignant for me: There’s an indefinite point in your tenure as a parent where you start to realize your kids are leaving you. For us,…

Posts Tagged ‘existentialism’

Snoopy’s advice sucks

You see a leaf. I see something so much worse.

Perhaps a near-death experience is a good thing. At least one therapist seems to think so.

My son has become a non-stop death machine.

Deep, scary, philosophical Star Trek thoughts.

Charlie’s all-too familiar existentialist dilemma

Not quite immortality, but 95 is a decent start.

I wrote about a dream I had last night. Three dreams, actually. But hearing about dreams usually sucks, so feel free to ignore.

Now I have to worry about falling cows. Great.

The thread of melancholy is unavoidable for this parent