Lately I’ve been listening to video recordings from a conference that happened last year with Ram Dass and Friends, called No Death, No Fear. In a video called “The Soul Complex” and in previous talks and writing, Ram Dass explains that as we reduce our fear and denial of death, we begin to appreciate the…
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Sandra wrote her sister an, “I love and cherish you and want to be sure you know this in case one of us dies suddenly” kind of letter. The results were unexpected and left Sandra realizing she could give her love freely and generously to her sister—and anyone, really— and that giving love generously, without expecting anything in return, feels great.
Mary Oliver’s words speak to my yearning to make this life—my life—matter. My desire to live a life with meaning calls me to reflect, to contemplate and to get clear about who and what matter. The thing is, and maybe you relate here, I find it very hard to create time and space for this type of discernment. Believe it or not, planning for my inevitable death, helps create that time and space.
This holiday season I devoured the The Productivity Project, by Chris Bailey. His message reinforces why so many people tend to put off end-of-life planning for “some day.” We can flip our procrastination triggers and get into action with anything, including end-of-life planning.
While I fantasize about gift giving that makes my heart sing, in reality, gift giving typically makes my heart race. This year I’ll be doing things differently. With the help of Willow’s Free Five-Minute Love Letter exercise ….
The heart of Willow’s work is inquiries around death and dying. We often begin with the simple question, “What are your fears around your death and dying?” The answers are as diverse as they are universal. While I’ve written and said aloud a variety of answers on many occasions, my common response is that I…
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I consider cemeteries to be beautiful, fascinating places whose look and feel informs us about current and historical cultures and societies. They also honour people who never made it into the history books and help us to imagine the lives of people from long ago.
I yearn for more remembering and honouring the dead in my life. I feel enlivened and inspired when I reflect on the relationship, lineage and opportunity that I’ve been gifted by those who’ve come before and died before me.
In the Jewish tradition the mourners are a distinct group. They are the parents, children, siblings and spouse of the deceased. At the funerals I went to while growing up in Montreal, the mourners sat in a special section upfront near the closed casket and the rabbi. I remember feeling envious of them in a…
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