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Adelle Onyango opens up on death and what she considers a good day to die
25th August, 2026 01:33 AM
Media personality and poet Adelle Onyango has opened up about death and what she considers a good day to die.
She explained that for her, such a day would be one where she feels she has fully explored the opportunities to live. Onyango said those opportunities can come in both small and big ways.
“I write a lot about a good day to die. And for me it’s any day where I feel I explored all the opportunities to live, that in that day, the universe gifted me,” Adelle Onyango said on Monday, August 24, 2026.
Onyango explained that the opportunities she refers to do not have to be major events. She said they can include a simple conversation with a stranger, changing the way she thinks, unlearning something or overcoming fear. She added that death continues to interest her because of its unexpected nature.
“In small and big ways. From a chance conversation with a stranger to a rewiring of thoughts, unlearning or a conquering of fear,” Adelle Onyango said.
Adelle Onyango on life and death
She said another thing that interests her is how people spend their lives trying to avoid the discomfort that comes with thinking about death. She explained that she responds to these thoughts by looking within herself.
“Death fascinates me in two ways: its surprising nature and in how we spend life running away from our discomfort with it. And so as a poet I go within, I listen, I sit with what I hear and then, write,” Adelle Onyango said.
Onyango also shared her thoughts on the meaning of death and what remains after a person dies. She said she does not believe that life gives meaning to death. Instead, she believes lineage gives it meaning and that the role of those left behind changes after death.
“I don’t think life gives meaning to death; I think lineage does. I think the assignment changes from expanding in life to, once death visits you, protecting and guiding one’s living and yet to lead people to their alignment,” Adelle Onyango said.
“So I think a dignified death is one where you did your best to expand and soak in life. That’s all,” Adelle Onyango said.
Onyango said she was not sure that being remembered after death would matter to her. She described the desire to be remembered as possibly ego-driven and said she hoped to be focused on the affairs of her people instead.
“I’m not even sure I want to be remembered when I die. Perhaps that’s ego-driven and really not my business what your memories are. I hope I would be too consumed with the affairs of my people,” Adelle Onyango said.
She also clarified that speaking or writing about death does not mean inviting it.
