coutelier:

There are different categories of cliche. There are cliches that are just a result of lazy writing. There are cliches that just come from stereotypes and peoples prejudice. But there are also cliches that become cliches because there’s some underlying truth to them.

For example, a character’s life ‘flashing before their eye’ when facing death might sound silly, but it turns out might actually be true. It’s called a Life Review Experience, and it’s been reported by many people who have been near to death. They don’t see their life in a neat chronological order, as usually happens in books and films, but all happening at once. Their perception of time completely alters, and sometimes they report seeing things from other people’s POV.

Basically you shouldn’t try to avoid every cliche as doing so can mean sacrifricing truth and realism in your stories.

I mean, do try to avoid category 1+2 cliches, obviously.