death Archieven | Existential Reflections

Essays

Living in the face of death

Menno van der Land / May 24, 2025

It is an inescapable reality, a timeless law of nature. From the moment we are born, one thing is certain: one day we will die. It happens to all of us, the ancient…

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Every time someone asks me if I have children, and my answer is ‘no’, I am amazed that the default follow-up question is: “why not?” Apparently it’s OK to ask people to justify their highly personal life choices. Especially when those choices deviate from what is considered ‘normal.’ People who do have children rarely have to defend themselves. Although in my opinion it makes more sense to ask people why they chose to have children. A convincing answer to why you would bring children into this world, proving you have given it proper consideration, seems more appropriate to me than having to justify staying childfree.