Wellness Includes Planning for Tomorrow
If someone you love needed to make an important decision on your behalf tomorrow, would they know what matters most to you? If you’re not sure, perhaps this National Wellness Month is the perfect time to begin that conversation.
Take one small step in August for Wellness month. Complete your advance directive OR locate your important documents. Talk to someone about your wishes for future care OR write down all the important information your family would need in an emergency. You don’t have to do everything. Just make a start.
Telling Stories: Why those family reunions and barbecues are the time to capture family legacies
One side of my mother’s family holds a family reunion every couple of years on the 4th of July. It allows those who live away to come in and for those of us who live close geographically, but who lose touch in our day to day lives to gather, reminisce, talk about the weather, kids […]
Can we talk about grief?
Grief doesn’t follow a template. It’s doesn’t travel a straight line. Sometimes it feels like you’re starting all over. When Elizabeth Kubler-Ross wrote about the “Five Stages of Grief,” it led many of us to believe that grief could be simplified. That grief follows a linear order. We progress through different feelings, one step at […]
Learning, Legacy & Community: New Offerings Through HELP YOUniversity
There are some conversations we avoid until life forces them upon us. Grief. Death. Legacy. Caregiving. Planning ahead. What matters most. But what if we created spaces to explore those conversations before crisis arrives?What if learning about end-of-life, grief, and legacy could feel less intimidating AND more human, connected, thoughtful, and meaningful? That is the […]
What I Wish I’d Known Before Becoming a Caregiver: Lessons, unexpected challenges and small victories
On Friday, our caregivers were celebrated for National Caregivers Day. I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to highlight the special challenges for the millions of us who are paid and unpaid caregivers, but did. not have time last week. (Because of caregiving.) Caregiving is hard, challenging, rewarding, and life-changing, and if you are a […]
Moral Injury, Violence, and Collective Grief in America
Moral injury occurs when you experience or witness something that goes against your moral core. Moral injury is a psychological, emotional and spiritual injury that occurs when we witness, experience or feel complicit in events that violate our deepest beliefs about right and wrong.
Women’s Love & Legacy
Let’s talk about something deeply meaningful: our stories and what we leave behind. Not long ago after I started doing this work, I came across this beautiful idea with roots in Jewish tradition called an ethical will. An ethical will, sometimes called a legacy letter, goes beyond legal documents and estate plans. This isn’t about […]
Your Anti-Capitalism Gift Guide
We all have enough stuff. And the “Haves” in our society certainly have enough of our hard-earned capital. I’m participating in the Black Friday (and beyond) Boycott and not purchasing gifts from corporations this year. If you’re trying to find a way to give something more meaningful, then here are some ideas. Some of them […]
Tough but necessary questions
When we are faced with taking care of someone who has received a terminal diagnosis or the need to help an aging parent or family member who is having a slow mental and/or physical decline, we often do not know what to do first. It is often time (sometimes past time) that we begin to […]
Think About It Thursdays
I’ve spent a lot of time this year revamping my website, finishing many half-finished projects and narrowing in on my goals and wishes as your friendly neighborhood death doula. One of the guiding principles of my practice is that of education. With that goal in my mind, I’ll be blogging again with more regularity and […]