In progress · written in the open
A Guide
for Dying
A Strategic Approach for Living in a Temporary World — a memoir by Jorrel Patterson.
№ 00
The premise
memoir & guide
Thesis
Survive to Thrive
Learn to die before you do — every death gives birth to something new.
“A Guide for Dying” is a deeply personal exploration of how to live fully and fearlessly by confronting the reality of our mortality. Through hard life lessons and personal stories, Jorrel Patterson turns the inevitability of death into a motivating force — for living with purpose, taking risks, and embracing the temporary nature of everything.
It’s both a memoir and a guide: the same idea that runs through the poems — real is what you can lose — told as a life.
The arc · four deaths, one rebirth
PART I
The Witness — Born to Die
Faith, control, exile. Growing up inside certainty, and the first death when you’re cast out of it.
PART II
The Investigation
Paranoia, fear, the death of safety. Surviving suspicion — and the people you lose along the way.
PART III
The Trail
The Pacific Crest Trail — solitude, revelation, the death of illusion. “Nothing matters,” and that’s freedom.
PART IV
The Fire and the Builder — Living Anyway
Desire, chaos, creation, rebirth. Building a life on purpose once you’ve stopped running from the end.
END
Survive to Thrive
“Survival is the inhale. Thriving is the exhale.” Survive today; thrive tomorrow.
Survive today.
Thrive tomorrow.
It’s being written in the open. Leave your name and follow it, chapter by chapter, as it comes.
est. Los Angelespoet · artist · King of the Hobos