Arthur Loefstok ·
I sat with ayahuasca with questions and an open heart. What I experienced in San Agustín, Colombia, became a deeply personal reflection on death, the people I love, and the way I choose to live.
Beyond the Last Goodbye is my visual telling of that experience. The illustrations give form to memories, visions and feelings. They are an artistic interpretation of my experience.
Anonymous readership measurement & privacy
Swipe or scroll through the 14 slides. Select an image to open it at full size.
The experience shifted how I think about endings. I felt that the connection with people I love does not simply disappear when their physical presence does. It continues in memory, in influence, and in the person I have become.
For me, that feeling brought a greater appreciation for being alive. More presence. More gratitude. A willingness to forgive sooner and hold my loved ones closer.
I share this as my own spiritual understanding, shaped by what I experienced and how I interpret it. The story gives those feelings a language. It also gives me a reminder of the choices I want to make beyond the ceremony.
I choose presence over distraction. Connection over absence. Love over fear. A life that feels true to me.
That is what I want to carry forward from Beyond the Last Goodbye: to live more fully, love more deeply, and take fewer moments for granted.
I sat with ayahuasca not to escape life, but to understand it deeper. I came with questions. And an open heart.
In the ceremony I saw my own death, a coffin in the earth. It felt real, undeniable, and yet... I was still there. It was not the end. It was a new beginning.
In the darkness I felt the presence of my ancestors. They did not speak with words, but with feelings. I felt their love, their guidance... and also their pain.
The medicine showed me that death is not a full stop, but a transition. Consciousness continues in another dimension we cannot fully see, but can feel. Life and death are part of the same cycle.
Their love, their influence, their memories, the connection we share. Those do not die. Death, from above: And what if I take someone you love from you? You may take their body, but you cannot take what we share.
Death may end a life, but only we decide whether it ends the story. I choose to keep my loved ones close, in my thoughts, my conversations, my actions, and in the love I continue to give.
They are still here. In my memories. In the person I have become. In the moments that still make me smile. Their presence may be different, but it is very real.
Ayahuasca showed me that there is more than what we see. There are layers, dimensions and energies that exist alongside our own. We are all part of something much bigger, a cycle, a connection, a universal flow.
And when my time comes for you? Aren’t you afraid to die? I will not fear you. I believe there is more to existence than this. When that moment comes, I will face it with peace, not fear.
Then what have I taught you? That you are not my enemy. You are a transition. And knowing that has freed me to live, love, and appreciate every moment without fearing its end.
This experience gave me more love for life. I am more present. I forgive sooner. I hold my loved ones tighter. I live with deeper gratitude knowing that death is not the end, but a continuation of the journey, for all of us.
I choose presence over distraction. I choose connection over absence. I choose love over fear. I choose a life that feels true to me.
Death is not the end. It is a transition. And because of that, I choose to live more fully, love more deeply, and never take a single moment for granted. This is not a goodbye. It is a continuation.
A personal journey with ayahuasca. Death may end a life, but only we decide whether it ends the story. San Agustín, Colombia.
Send me a private response to this article. It won’t appear as a public comment.
KEEP THE CONVERSATION GOING
New writing on culture, community and putting convictions into practice. Straight to your inbox.