-
“The Year of Magical Thinking”
A memoir of grief and survivalA recent interview with actress Michelle Williams about the sudden death in 2008 of her partner, actor Heather Ledger, reveals interesting lessons about both the nature of mourning and how we can be sensitive to those who are going through it. Michelle Williams and Heath Ledger fell in love on set while filming Ang Lee’s…
/
-
Taking the Time to Say Goodbye: Vietnamese Funeral Customs
Traditional Vietnamese culture allows plenty of time for the grieving and burial processWe often anticipate the emotional and physical energy the death of a loved one will require from us, but seldom do we stop to think about the time it will demand from us as well; there is the time it exacts in a practical sense in planning, and then there is the time it demands…
/
-
9 Facts About Life I’ve Learned from Writing About Death
Life lessons from end-of-life industry experts, medical professionals and those grieving lossThis month will mark my last as a blog writer for SevenPonds. I joined this team two years ago as a young writer with little insight into the end-of-life industry, only knowing that I agreed with our founder Suzette that it’s time we change the way we look at death and start talking about this…
/
-
“The Rose”
A hopeful funeral song about finding love after lossIf you’re looking for a funeral song to instill hope in you and your loved ones, look no further than “The Rose.” Sung by the legendary Bette Midler and made famous by the movie, The Rose, the soulful song has lyrics full of hope and optimism for the future. The song reminds us that even during…
/
-
Crazy Coffins: An Innovative Approach to End-Of-Life Receptacles
A British coffin company exhibits their unique creationsIn the Western hemisphere, the funereal aesthetic is somber, heavy — even a bit austere. Death is often a taboo subject, where people are loath to discuss end-of-life arrangements prior to the fact. Levity and celebration are not considered a part of such a solemn process, where the typical funeral is furnished with the same…
/
-
What are Death Cafes? (Interview)
Creating a safe environment for people to talk about death and dyingToday we talk with Jon Underwood, the founder of Death Cafe. Based on the sociology studies of the Swiss Bernard Crettaz, the goal of Death Cafe is to create a safe environment where people can engage in conversation about death and dying. What first started in Jon’s basement has grown to encompass several locations in…
/
-
Short Story: “Breaking the News,” by Vladimir Nabokov (1935)
Friends struggle with how to break very bad news in this story of the moment before griefA prominent 20th-century author and one of the great masters of language, Vladimir Nabokov wrote his share of epic, seminal novel-length works, including Lolita, Pale Fire, and Ada, or Ardor. But in the short story “Breaking the News,” first published in a Russian periodical in 1935, all of his powers of narrative and emotion are…
/
-
Buddhism and the Eastern Middle Ground
In Buddhist tradition, our death falls into a plane of existence that continues even after our final breathThe relation of life to death, what happens after the end, what we do with the years we have and what we leave behind, remains perhaps the most consistently affecting and important issue plaguing human life. Religions throughout the ages have sought to answer the unanswerable questions death inspires, and, more recently, science has sought…
/
Want an Easier Way to Plan a Memorial Event? Get our FREE guide
“7 Ways to Create an Amazing Celebration of Life”
