In 2022 there is so much content that can help us approach our own and our family and friends’ end of life more openly. FaceTime, Alexa and Evernote to connect and manage us. What is the role of digital life at the end of life?

A funeral is for those left behind. A living funeral or wake is for those who will be left behind, it’s for you, it’s for your relationships. It’s for saying goodbye in person. It’s a beautiful opportunity to express gratitude.

‘Time Passing’ 7-21 April 2022. Queen Victoria Women’s Centre, Lonsdale St. All welcome to the opening. There are workshops and a reading alongside the exhibition. In this post, the exhibition, ‘The Bridge’ and ‘Death Matters.’

You can go out in a shroud in Victoria. And they expand the repertoire of ritual. Inviting to the senses and wonderfully intimate, this is an option you might want to consider.

The workshops on planning for end of life that I ran in 2021 made a difference to those who came. The topic people said interested them most was ‘conversations about end of life’.

Now’s a good time for me to have a look back at our work together, in preparation for more workshops in 2022.

What to say when someone has died? This is a question I’m often asked. Here’s a very simple formula which you may want to try … and it’s helpful in other situations as well.

The heart knows …

‘A life affirming book about death’ a reader posted on Twitter not long after its publication.

My understanding of life affirming is that we know that life’s extraordinary opportunities arise from the heart as well as the head.

Rest in Peace (RIP) is a strong positive wish worth exploring. At its heart this wish invites a gentle intention to make death a love project.

Here are my thoughts at the cemetery, on the street and in the context of meaningful rituals and ceremonies.

You can join End of Life Care, challenges & innovation for free. It’s offered by University of Glasgow on FutureLearn . I give it five stars.

If you’re up for I hope this review will get you moving or stop you in your tracks!

Talking with my friend Kara some time back – she’s 30 –  it dawned on me that she didn’t know how to go to a funeral.
Her friend’s dad had been struggling with cancer and now he’d died. It was a big time for them.
Will you go to the funeral? I asked.
Can I? she said.

Yes it’s a sensitive topic, but early conversations make a great difference to family and friends later. Have a look at my book ‘Death, a love project, a guide to exploring the life in death and finding the way together’ – it’s full of material that will help you to make decisions and talk with significant others about.

My friend Ron and I first met over our interests in public deliberation and decision-making, and it was unexpected when he asked me something very personal

I met Jack Bolt to find out something about donating your body to science. Jack’s wife,  Kathleen died in 2015. ‘My wife and my son and I had discussed the subject of death as a matter of fact that needed to be faced.

I’ve run more than 25 Death Cafes in Melbourne – that’s one ‘death conversation’ for each season for some years, plus many open conversations and workshops about death, grief and loss for professionals like social workers, mental health, aged care and family violence workers.