Productive Flourishing Podcast 075: Bringing Conversations about Death to Life with Kathy Kortes-Miller
We all know that death is a part of life, but it’s the part of life that we, as a society and individuals, often would rather not talk about. And yet, not talking about it isn’t making it go away; and in fact, makes death and dying so much harder for us to process. Kathy Kortes-Miller joins me today to talk about how to bring life into conversations about death. If you’re not a long time listener to the show, you might wonder why we’re talking about death. One of the reasons I do this show is to share a wider range of the human and creative experience than just the Oprah version. I most want you and us all to see that we’re not alone in whatever adversity we’re going through, and you can triumph too. Ready? Let’s do this!
Key Takeaways:
[1:13] Thank you to our sponsor, SaneBox.com.
[2:13] Charlie is pumped to introduce Kathy Kortes-Miller.
[3:52] How did Kathy slide into a career in death education?
[5:32] How did she feel about death at the early stages of this path?
[7:40] How did we get to this point where death is such a taboo topic to talk about?
[12:35] Charlie shares a story on death in earlier forms of our societies and existence.
[14:06] Why would we want death to become a normative life event?
[17:32] How do we open the door to having conversations about death across generations?
[20:41] What sort of things have people, who are at the end of their lives, told Kathy they wished they had done differently.
[22:28] What are some conversation initiators on how to have a more intentional or celebratory passing?
[27:49] How do we make conversations about death something that’s what we want to do vs. what we have to do?
[31:54] People don’t necessarily know what to do after your passing. They don’t know what rituals you want or what legacy you want to leave behind.
[34:20] Kathy shares a story about a family she worked with whose dad was dying.
[35:57] What’s happening now with the traditional funeral model?
[37:46] Kathy’s ‘one song’ about death and the process of dying.
Mentioned in This Episode:
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