Blog
Morbid Poet or Canny Pre-Planner
How do we mortal, life-loving humans entertain the idea of death? When I read leading New York City funeral entrepreneur Amy Cunningham’s blogs, I’m reminded of the power of poetry and music to offer common ground with others, both contemporary and from centuries past. I met Cunningham in 2012 when I trained in home funerals […]
Difficult conversations; what we may have got wrong about the CEO of Ardent Leisure
Last week there was a tragic accident at Dreamworld. Today I’m thinking about the CEO of the parent company, Deborah Thomas. She made the headlines in a way she could not have dreamed of. Now she’s copping flack, despised as a poor steward of a tragedy, and a greedy and inadequate corporate executive. Poor Deborah […]
Citizens educating on funeral options
The US social landscape is unique in the way it makes room for the vocation and concern of citizenship. I’ve learned this through being a practitioner in deliberative democracy over many years. Today Trump and Clinton strut the last days of their campaign in the direct democracy arena. Every day self-reliant grassroots movements and passionate […]
Co-created life story books
I love stories and I love making books! With many years experience in the field of ‘writing in the community’, they’ve been my speciality. Projects I have worked on include: You have to laugh, but you also have to cry with family and professional carers at Ballina Dementia Care, Elements of Life with Kirra Day […]
Guest Post: Why we had a steel band at Mom’s memorial
by Jennifer Downs I spent a week with Jennifer Downs in Baltimore, Maryland in 2012. I was attending ‘home funeral’ training with Final Passages. An acupuncturist, Steiner educator and political activist, Jennifer’s tagline is ‘Wake up to your wisdom, embrace your life’. I’m often inspired by her blog at Pivot Point Projects and asked her […]
Karuna: caring and compassion
A beautiful garden is the perfect place to have five minutes before a meeting. Time to stand by the fish pond. Time to reflect. I was visiting for the first time. I’d been too busy on other trips to Brisbane. Anyway with regular updates in the mail, I’ve always felt in touch with Karuna’s mission. […]
Planning
Later, what is it you and your family would like? We can have a broad conversation that extends beyond what the advance care directive enables, to include your values, roles in your care and funeral options. Each client I see has motivators that draw them toward planning, and uncertainties that are currently holding them back. […]
Love projects 1
All the sadness in loss. We can only experience it. And yet there’s also a pull to make sense of it. The journey to make loss meaningful can be painfully long. Somehow memorials play a role in this. Then as time passes, there’s something left, something to refer to, a special place to go and […]
Focus on natural burial: SLF 2016
When people come together around something that affects them deeply, and with focus and determination, a lot can be learned. What’s also great is that we can admit ignorance, listen closely to what others have to offer, and make new and sustainable connections with ideas and people. [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” […]
Essentials
Being prepared takes planning. Here I’ve set out a few resources that are available online. A general advance care directive makes known your wishes regarding future medical care. Most people find weighing up the important consideration in the advance care directive pretty difficult. I can help you work through these questions. Consider a workshop with […]