Death is the one thing in life we’re most certain of, yet most people would do anything to avoid talking or even thinking about it. For most of us, it takes death itself—whether recent or impending—to prompt us to bravely consider the reality of our mortality.
People in their dying days often speak of experiencing enormous growth and transformation. Dying can be a time of truth seeking and risk taking. Many have observed that in the face of death, people tend to focus on what gives (or has given) their life meaning.
Perhaps you’ve experienced something similar around a health crisis or the death of someone you knew. The truth is, you don’t need to wait until someone dies or you’re faced with a life-threatening or life-limiting illness to experience these benefits.
Your mortality is an opportunity in disguise.
Many of us know the benefits of preparing for our one-day, some-day death. But sometimes it’s hard to get started. All this planning-ahead business feels overwhelming and fragmented. Or perhaps some basic planning pieces are in place but it feels like who you are isn’t showing up in your planning documents.
Making sense of life and death before making practical arrangements helps ensure that your end-of-life planning reflects your values and priorities. Whether you have days or decades left to live, we believe that thinking about and preparing for your death will inspire you to live your best life now.
“Full of powerful questions, this beautiful inquiry brought me deeper into my heart — which is where I want to live from … more in the present, in creating my future with sacred intention.”
Danielle LaPorte, Creator of The Desire Map Program
This self-guided program will help you base your planning on your values and priorities and lay the groundwork for you to be as prepared as is possible for the inevitable. Focused around the digital, fillable workbook, the program, pulls together our favourite and most effective self-reflection exercises from the workshops and coaching we’ve done for the past few years. This program offers additional tools including:
This 52-page, print or fillable digital workbook pulls together our favourite and most effective self-reflection exercises from the workshops and coaching we’ve done. It will help you base your planning on your values and priorities and lay the groundwork for you to be as prepared as possible for the inevitable. Whether you have days or decades left to live, thinking about and preparing for your someday, one-day death will inspire you to live your best life now.
There’s a lot of talk these days about the importance of preparing for your someday, one-day inevitable death, while you’re still healthy enough to do that. Whether you’re thinking about your own end-of-life planning or the death of someone in your life, it really helps to talk about it first!
For guidance on how to have successful EOL planning conversations, use this 8-page, fillable tool to set your intention, identify your concerns, create context and explain the importance of your conversation and finally, reflect.
Willow’s Reality of Our Mortality Planning Checklist will help you explore pragmatic end-of-life planning as a heart-centred and holistic practice. The topics on the list move beyond the purely pragmatic to include self-reflection, relationships and the interconnected nature of life and death.
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.
