Practical variations on the theme of death, explored outside of the western Judeo-Christian ethic, allowing for permission to look at and be curious about how people individualize the process of dying. In a world where we seem to be growing apart, this is the one thing that links us all to our common humanity, to the journey of compassion and love for life, for living, for having lived and – by extension – to one another…

• explanation of the legacy letter that might accompany your will and the significance of it
• exploration of how to use your future obituary to guide your current business and your life
• considerations of bequeathing your body to science or organ donation as part of your legacy

Environment:

• introduction to exploring more green-focused burial practices, including aquamation, green burials and composting
• Columbia University in New York has a division called “DeathLab” entirely dedicated to sustainable and socially integrated disposition of remains
• much of the world is way ahead of Western traditional burials and we explore whether other cultures might provide more environmentally friendly options for us to consider

Mental Health:

• discussion of benefits and disadvantages of the medicalization of death with direct application towards your own decision making
• conversation geared towards uncovering some of the factors that contribute to complex grief, anticipatory grief and feelings of loss
• validating the feeling that “I didn’t sign up for this” and providing possible reframes to support working through grief

Humour:

• introduction of humour as a coping strategy
• presentation of authentic, “laugh-out-loud” obituaries where people have shown their spark, their witt and their eccentricities
• reading of the best living will ever, full of lightness, laughter and straightforward “no-holds-barred” honesty, despite the writer being ill

Demystifying the words:

• explanation of the difference between long term care, palliative care and hospice care
• advantages and disadvantages of having someone die at home vs hospice experience
• deconstruction of the “palliative narrative” and how it impacts the perception of our own life journey