Non-Existence

For the first time, I wrote the description of my work before I even started it (with minor edits).

Death is an inevitability we all face. Most of us think it's not going to happen until our life expectancy, and some of us like to believe that we will live forever. Some of us are afraid of it. I have a friend who is terrified by the concept of death every single day.

I am not afraid of death. I am all right with the fact that eventually, I will leave this earth. The only thing about death that scares me is the concept of non-existence. I like to think. I like to dream. Some days, that is all I like to do. I can't imagine losing this ability. When I picture dying, I picture darkness... never-ending darkness. But truthfully, if we didn't exist, we wouldn't even see darkness. We wouldn't see anything. We wouldn't think, smell, touch, hear, or feel anything. That is nearly impossible to comprehend. The mind just can't take it. What does non-existence feel like? It feels like nothing... because it is nothing.

I think this might be at least part of the reason why so many people believe in the afterlife. Heaven/hell, ghosts, reincarnation, etc. And really... who's to say these concepts don't hold some truth to them? We don't know. In a way, an afterlife is easier to comprehend than non-existence. I think the vast majority of us don't want to think about not existing. The thought that we're just... gone... makes life seem sort of pointless. Yet that's what I believe: that we're just gone. I like the idea of leaving behind energy, an essence... but even then, I don't think we'll be conscious of it.

I had this idea almost two years ago and couldn't figure out how to portray the concept. It came to me all the sudden... it's kind of the opposite of the light at the end of the tunnel. It took an outrageously long time to do all that gradient. It's literally just a bunch of dots. It was actually a very therapeutic piece to do.