Making Sense of Life & Death
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A few months ago I was at a social gathering and was talking to someone about Willow and end-of-life planning. As if he’d heard the answer many times before, he asked “So, you’re going to tell me that the first thing I need to do is write a will, right?” “Actually, no.” I said, “The first thing I think you should do is spend some time making sense of life and death.”
Read the most recent posts below or explore by topic.
Making Sense of Life & Death
Legacy, Love Letters + Heart Wills
Departure Directions
Learning From Death: A Mother’s Greatest Teacher
Twenty-five years ago, Akasha learned about life from her dying eleven-year-old daughter, Sarah. In a recent conversation Akasha described Sarah’s death as a “beautiful experience that profoundly changed who I am and the way I live my life.” I can’t imagine losing my...
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Attending Funerals: What’s in it for You?
One of the reasons I co-founded our company WILLOW is because I love attending funerals. I recently learned on Facebook that my friend’s father had just died. I had great respect for his dad, was sad for my friend, and was looking forward to going to the funeral....
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Fears, courage and promise: How exploring our traditions impacts our lives
A while back I bought a book that I’m afraid to start reading. Even though the book was described by author and women’s wellness advocate Dr. Christiane Northrup as “A masterpiece of women’s wisdom,” I hadn’t been moved enough to crack it open. The book is...
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Remembering and Being Remembered
Remembering and being remembered was the focus of WILLOW’s Reality of our Mortality Learning Circle last month at Vancouver’s Mountain View Cemetery. Our collective exploring revealed rich insights about why we remember, what we remember and how it makes...
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Taking Care of Death is Taking Care of Life
We hope you had a chance to read our previous newsletter and blogpost Deathcare: Not just another retail transaction. In it you had the opportunity to fill in a short survey about an online course we're developing to guide you to write your Departure...
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Deathcare: Not just another retail transaction
Michelle here: When someone dies, there are choices to be made. What do we lose when we approach those deathcare choices like just another retail transaction? Let’s look at two deaths I was involved with recently. Coco died over the holiday season. It was...
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Have your best year yet by planning for the inevitable
If January is your time to plan for your best year yet, we invite you to include planning for your inevitable, unpredictable death. Say what?
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Cracked Wide Open
We recently wrapped up our Legacy, Love Letters + Heart Wills Series. At the end of the evening we each shared a word or three to capture our sense of the impact of participating. My closing words were, “cracked wide open” and that, my friends, is a precious, luscious...
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A New Age of Funeral Services
As WILLOW unfolds, Reena and I continue to learn and grow in all ways. We do our best to translate that learning into useful tools and thoughtful opportunities to inform and inspire you to make the most of your finite and precious life and to explore the mystery that...
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