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Memento Mori: Remembering Your Own Death
Artworks that remind us to live life to the fullestMemento mori is a Latin phrase that literally means, “remember to die.” As an art form, it has encompassed but is not exclusive to memorial art, and serves to this day as a reminder to live life fully and mindfully. Memento mori art has taken on many forms, from painting to sculpture to jewelry, often…
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Our Weekly Tip: Open Mic For Sharing Memories at A Memorial Service
In addition to or instead of standard eulogies, open up the mic for family and friends to pay tribute to your loved oneOur Tip of the Week: Often the most poignant moments of a memorial service happen when eulogies are delivered or songs or poems honoring the dead are performed by loved ones. As difficult as delivering a eulogy can be, it’s also often a positive, cathartic experience. There’s a lot of therapeutic potential in the process…
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How Do You Recover After the Loss of a Child? (Interview)
Retired psychologist Carol Kearns talks about losing her daughter, Kristen, at age sevenToday SevenPonds speaks with Carol Kearns, a retired psychologist who specialized in recent loss issues. Carol lost her own daughter, Kristen, when her daughter was seven years old, and has since dedicated her life to helping others through crisis and sudden loss for the past 30 years. She is the author of a memoir about loss, Sugar…
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“Maybe Death is Like a Light”
A children’s book that shines a gentle light on death, helping kids see it in a new wayGreg Lundgren, both designer and handmade cremation urn provider, has written and illustrated a coloring book to help a child coping with death view his or her experience in a new light. The book, Maybe Death is Like a Light, walks away from the usual approach of actually trying to explain death to a child. Instead…
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The Turning of the Bones in Madagascar
A look at famadihana, a joyous celebration of life and death in MadagascarIn Madagascar, the Malagasy people engage in a unique and beautiful tradition called “famadihana.” This translates to “the turning of the bones,” and it is a ritual steeped in history and joy. During “famadihana,” which occurs every two to seven years, the families of the dead host a glorious celebration at the ancestral crypts. Each body of…
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Imagine Reclaiming Your Father’s Stolen Stradivarius 35 Years After the Incident
Three years after their father’s death, the Totenberg family experiences the good fortune of reclaiming a possession so dear to his heartIn a recent NPR piece, their legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg, daughter of the late virtuoso violinist Roman Totenberg, discussed the 35-year case of her father’s stolen prized Stradivarius and its recent recovery. The stealing happened after a concert “while he was greeting well-wishers…it was snatched from his office at the Longy School of Music…
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Monday Hearts for Madalene
Page Hodel creates the most beautiful hearts in an ongoing celebration of loveI Get Rosy-Cheeked Whenever I Think of You It’s an honor for SevenPonds to share with our readers the story of the Monday Hearts for Madalene project, a true account of the power of love in the midst of death. The project’s origins take us to 2005: the moment Page Hodel encountered Madalene Rodriguez and fell “instantly, dizzyingly in…
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Picasso’s Blues: Portraits of Loss
Picasso’s Blue Period helps us cultivate compassion in difficult timesPablo Picasso, a Spanish artist known widely for sparking the Cubist movement, had a long and prolific career that art historians have divided into distinct time-based categories, or “Periods.” With the suicide of his friend Carlos Casagemas in 1901, Picasso’s Blue Period commenced. The Blue Period lasted until 1904 and is notable for its predominantly…
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