Esther Perel Instagram – Many of you may be aware that my parents were survivors of Nazi concentration camps, and and sole survivors of their respective families. Growing up, death was a recurring theme in our conversations, yet it never held the spotlight. They were so busy re-learning how to be alive and how to forge ahead that talking about the end of life felt taboo. My parents aimed to savor life beyond mere survival. They were determined to enjoy life as more than survivors. For them, there was a difference between “not being dead” and “being alive.” This distinction seeded my fascination with eroticism—a force countering lifelessness. Still, our avoidance of addressing death rendered us unprepared when it inevitably arrived. I used to believe that talking about death was intrusive and, superstitiously, I feared that it would make it come sooner. However, in a society that champions mastery, death remains beyond our control. If you are in the grip of the fear of some things, then you won’t take risks, you won’t take actions, you won’t take chances, because it can be a paralyzing fear. Embracing an awareness of death, however, propels us toward creativity, art, family, and other endeavors that temper the specter of death. To be aware of death is to address life itself—embracing hope, fear, ambiguity, imagination, legacy, relationships, duty, and love. For more on this topic, visit the link in my bio to listen to the full conversation with @nayeemaraza and @karaswisher as we discuss grief and how we live through it.