Photo Credit: Ben Mater
In these tumultuous and tiring days of disruption and disorder, the sources we turn to for wisdom and nourishment talk an awful lot about love.
Love holds us tenderly as we wrestle with our fear and self-doubt.
Love dissolves the loathing that leads us to taste hate on our tongues.
Love pushes us into wells of sorrow that lead to healing.
Love nourishes our hopes for a future grounded in mutual care for one another and our planet.
Love fortifies us for the work that can and must be done.
Regardless of what you think happens after you die, here and now we’re all mortal beings with finite time on this planet. Someday, one day, and you don’t know when, the people you hold near and dear are going to die. And you are going to die. What does that mean to you? What’s the point—the purpose—the meaning of it all?
After a year like no other, we enter 2021 with absolute clarity that we can only manifest the change we seek—change on every level—if we acknowledge what is. Only when we accept where we’re at as individuals, as part of intimate circles of friends and family, as members of communities, and as a global citizenry can we reconcile and collaborate to create a radically different society.
If love is the answer, “how do you make sense of life and death?” is the question.
All our love,
Michelle + Reena
What about you?
How do you make sense of life and death?
How is love the answer to your questions?
When people ask Valoria Walker what an end-of-life doula is, she finds it easiest to explain it this way: “A doula is a woman supporting other women labouring and giving birth. An end-of-life doula is at the opposite end. I support aging adults who are near or at the end of life.”
We are delighted to announce that the Willow EOL Educator™ Program is now available! When we formed Willow in 2015, we knew we wanted to do more than be of service as 1:1 end-of-life-planning coaches or small-group facilitators. We knew that our calling was to empower other passionate educators to use the innovative EOL education tools and products we created. The Willow EOL Educator™ Program is the five-years-in-the-making solution to our quest to do more.
You name it—bereavement counsellor, celebrant, cemeterian, coroner, cremationist, death coach, elder, end-of-life doula, estate-planning professional, funeral director, home-funeral guide, hospice staff, memoir writing guide, musician, organ transplant and body donation educator, palliative care nurse and physician, psychopomp, religious death society volunteer, spiritual leader, transfer driver, virtual event planner—they’re out there wanting to be of service.
