Welcome to Vivere Mori

Explorations into what the finite has to teach us about the infinite

Angèle Etoundi Essamba - Femme portant l’univers, 1993

"Death and life are interdependent: though the physicality of death destroys us, the idea of death saves us."
—Irvin Yalom, Existential Psychotherapy (1980)

Welcome to Vivere Mori, a space where psychology meets philosophy, where science encounters the sacred, and where our deepest fears can become our greatest teachers.

I've spent the last decade immersed in a paradox: studying how our awareness of death can teach us how to truly live. Through my personal studies and graduate work in existential-humanistic psychology, I've explored the intersection of death anxiety, psychedelics, spirituality, and meaning-making, a landscape that's both deeply personal and universally human.

Why “Vivere Mori”?

Vivere Mori means "to live, to die" in Latin. We’re all familiar with memento mori, “remember you will die” or “remember death,” but seldom do we consider the necessary partner to memento mori, memento vivere: “remember that you are alive” or “remember life.” Vivere Mori acknowledges that living and dying are not opposing forces but intertwined realities, the most basic but profound fact of our humanness. It suggests that our conscious relationship with both can become the very foundation of an authentic, meaningful existence.

My interest in living and dying isn't about morbidity or nihilistic despair. Martin Heidegger puts it perfectly: "If I take death into my life, acknowledge it, and face it squarely, I will free myself from the anxiety of death and the pettiness of life—and only then will I be free to become myself."

I’m interested in what existential-humanitsic psychologist Kirk Schneider calls “the whole enchilada” approach to life, where the beautiful, the terrible, the mundane, and the surprising all contribute to an existence that pulses with aliveness.

Catholic Guilt → Existential Awe

Like many, my relationship with death began wrapped in religious fear. Growing up Catholic, I was haunted by visions of hell and purgatory, carrying what I now recognize as death anxiety disguised as religious faith. The "Catholic guilt" I carried for years was, at its core, terror management—psychological defenses against the reality of our finite existence.

My family left the church when I was a teenager, and around that same time I became absorbed in world religion studies and existentialism. During my meandering 15-year journey through college, I dove deeper into existential psychology, consciousness studies, and psychedelic research. My relationship with death shifted from one of fear to one of awe and reverence. (I won’t go as far as to say “acceptance” quite yet.) This transformation wasn't just intellectual, it was deeply personal, spiritual, and ultimately liberating.

Why Now: The Crisis of Meaning in Our Time

We're living through intersecting crises: climate change, political upheaval, social fragmentation, and a pervasive sense that the old worldviews that once provided meaning are crumbling. Psychological science (more specifically Terror Management Theory, but more on that later) tells us that when our cultural worldviews fail to provide adequate psychological buffers against death anxiety, we experience existential terror.

I find it fascinating and rather uplifting, though, that research also shows that when individuals consciously confront their mortality, they don't spiral into despair. Instead, they often experience a redirection toward personally meaningful goals and a reintegration of death into life, contributing to an existence rich in authentic meaning. These same effects arise when the existential confrontation is facilitated by psychedelics. In a landscape of polycrisis and groundlessness, conscious mortality contemplation can facilitate reduced death anxiety coupled with increased life satisfaction, enhanced spirituality, and a profound shift toward intrinsic rather than extrinsic sources of meaning.

In other words, the very thing we're likely most afraid of—our finitude—might hold the key to living more fully. At a time when traditional sources of meaning are failing, this work has never been more essential.

What You'll Find Here

At Vivere Mori, we'll explore this paradox together. You'll find:

Research-based insights from the cutting edge of psychedelic science, existential psychology, and consciousness studies, translated into accessible, practical wisdom.

Philosophical explorations bridging ancient wisdom and modern psychology.

Personal reflections on my own journey from fear to awe (and everywhere in between).

Practical applications including exercises for cultivating awe, confronting mortality consciously, and building personally meaningful belief systems.

Cultural commentary on how death anxiety shapes our world.

The Promise of the Existential Confrontation

Psychology buffs, curious spiritual seekers, those grappling with mortality, human beings trying to live more authentically in an uncertain world… I invite you to join this exploration.

Together, we'll discover what existential psychiatrist Irvin Yalom (1980) witnessed over decades of working with clients: that the “recognition of death contributes a sense of poignancy to life, provides a radical shift in life perspective, and can transport one from a mode of living characterized by diversions, tranquilization, and petty anxieties to a more authentic mode."

We'll play at the intersection of psychology, philosophy, psychedelic science, and spirituality, and we’ll explore how the integration of existential, humanistic, and transpersonal insights can provide a framework for navigating the darkness of our contemporary challenges.

We can live an existence filled with awe, meaning, and genuine connection, not despite our mortality, but because of it.

Our mortality is not our limitation, it's our liberation. It frees us from the trivial and points us toward what's truly meaningful. It's the difference between existing and really living.

Memento vivere,
Frances