Halloween Through History
This Halloween, or maybe the next day, take some time to reflect on the real reason for the season. All those spooky skeletons and ghosts aren’t just coming back for a party, they’re here to remind us that someday, each and every one of us is going to join them.
Spotlight on Catherine, Your Death Project Manager
Even for doulas, advance care plans aren’t everyone’s strong suit. But this stuff is too important not to know! Fortunately IDLM has regular advance care planning classes taught by the fabulous Miss Pam Carter, and on top of that we are proud to be partnered with the Death Project Manager, an expert in helping you get organized in preparation for end of life.
Telling Your Own Story
An obituary can be an opportunity to really tell your own or someone else’s story one last time, to put one last stamp on people’s memories and connect for a final time.
Playing the Long Game
In many places, death work is still not normalized. The problem isn’t that people don’t want or need the services of a death doula; it’s that they have never heard of a death doula in the first place. Nobody they know has ever hired a death doula. Why should they?
Funerals Are For the Living AND the Dead
These days, many people are abandoning the word “funeral” and instead use the term “celebration of life.” This could not be more appropriate, because the ultimate purpose of these ceremonies is to gather one last time with others to celebrate someone we all cared about.
Is It Time to Revisit Your Advance Care Plan?
I’m getting ready to take a big trip in the fall, and as I was working on preparations today it occurred to me that it’s been a while since this blog said anything about advance care planning. When it comes to making an advance care plan, a lot of people think it’s something you do […]
Summer Summit Spotlight – Your Morbid Friends
One of the reasons talking to people about death can be so challenging is that it often means talking to them about what is most important to them in life. It can sometimes require a vulnerability that is difficult for people, as they worry about whether they will be valued for what makes them who […]
Music for End of Life
A couple weeks back, I was having a pretty rough day. One of those days where nothing seems to go right, and nothing seems to help, and the only thing you can do is give up, lie in a dark room, and listen to Simon and Garfunkel on repeat. You might have a different preference […]
All That Remains… and What To Do With It
A friend of mine likes to regularly remind me that when he dies he wants his remains shot into space. He says it with humor because he knows it’s a silly thing to say, but he is serious about it. The two of us have even done some research together on options and pricing (for […]
That’s the Question, Isn’t It?
I have a question for you. You are more than welcome to answer it, for yourself—in fact, you probably should. But really, I’m giving you this question as a gift to use as a tool with your clients, because this is one of the most important questions you can ask when it comes to advance […]
