Best Life Best Death

Greg Dale of Artful Ashes (Seattle, WA) says simply: ”We create beautiful, tangible treasures. Something that people can hold and remember the good times.” How do they do this? By creating unique blown glass art from cremated remains! Find out how this unique glass art business got its spark to begin, how people come from all over to participate in the ceremonies of making these pieces, and about the true artistic and heart-filled inspiration at the core of this work. Beautiful! For more info visit Artfulashes.com For more information on Best Life Best Death please visit our website at www.bestlifebestdeath.com Follow us on our social channels to receive pertinent and helpful resources on death, grieving, and more at: Facebook: www.facebook.com/bestlifebestdeath Instagram: www.instagram.com/bestlifebestdeath

Theresa and I run the gamut in this conversation, from her many experiences as a nurse to her sudden role as a breast cancer patient. Her book -- Healing: When a Nurse Becomes a Patient -- forms the basis of our wide-ranging conversation. We cover her experience plus compassion, empathy, overwhelm, our for-profit medical system, and the varied challenges/obstacles/mazes that patients face. This discussion touches all of us at some point, because we all interface with the medical world. And how to do it in the best way possible, for everyone involved in patient care? For more information on Best Life Best Death please visit our website at www.bestlifebestdeath.com Follow us on our social channels to receive pertinent and helpful resources on death, grieving, and more at: Facebook: www.facebook.com/bestlifebestdeath Instagram: www.instagram.com/bestlifebestdeath

“We kind of are a ‘just say yes’ funeral home!” says Seth Viddal of The Natural Funeral. Seth is full of information about what they offer at their location in the Front Range of Colorado, and I was fascinated to learn all about it. He and I discuss water cremation, flame cremation, natural reduction, burial, green burial, private land burial, and open air pyre cremations. This episode may pique your curiosity to think about what is available in your area and what feels right to you. For more information on Best Life Best Death please visit our website at www.bestlifebestdeath.com Follow us on our social channels to receive pertinent and helpful resources on death, grieving, and more at: Facebook: www.facebook.com/bestlifebestdeath Instagram: www.instagram.com/bestlifebestdeath

What does a singer/songwriter have to do with Best Life Best Death? Just listen, as Peter Mayer  offers an uplifting reminder of the beauty in the everyday and thoughtful reflections on our place in the cosmos. He plays an acoustic version of “You’re Not Just a Wave, You’re the Whole Ocean Wide” – a remarkable unrecorded song, based on a metaphor from "Tuesdays with Morrie." Plus a simple, acoustic version of “Everything Is Holy Now.”  For more information on Best Life Best Death please visit our website at www.bestlifebestdeath.com Follow us on our social channels to receive pertinent and helpful resources on death, grieving, and more at: Facebook: www.facebook.com/bestlifebestdeath Instagram: www.instagram.com/bestlifebestdeath

Alexandra Jo and I dig into the work of Parting Stone, a company which creates beautiful, solid, rock-like pieces from cremation remains. We talk about what they look and feel like, as well as how these stones support “the creative ways that people can ritualize grieving." We digress into talk about playing in cemeteries while growing up, disenfranchised grief (what's that? - you'll soon learn), and how to support others in their “full bucket” time of grief.  For more information on Best Life Best Death please visit our website at www.bestlifebestdeath.com Follow us on our social channels to receive pertinent and helpful resources on death, grieving, and more at: Facebook: www.facebook.com/bestlifebestdeath Instagram: www.instagram.com/bestlifebestdeath

Enjoy this fast-paced conversation with hospice nurse, end-of-life doula, and conscious dying educator Gabrielle Jimenez of The Hospice Heart. Gabby has so much to offer, and we discuss some of the questions in her most recent book, "What Would Gabby Say?" She talks about the power of learning about what to expect around death, the transformation that comes in facing and sharing our grief, and her belief in the possibility of easing suffering for everyone at the end of life. Warmth and candor are the hallmarks of this lovely human.  Find Gabby on Facebook here and check out her website at www.thehospiceheart.net. For more information on Best Life Best Death please visit our website at www.bestlifebestdeath.com Follow us on our social channels to receive pertinent and helpful resources on death, grieving, and more at: Facebook: www.facebook.com/bestlifebestdeath Instagram: www.instagram.com/bestlifebestdeath

This week I have a striking conversation with Dana Frost of the Forced Joy Project. In the depth of her husband’s illness, Dana and Brad decided that they were going to need to find a way to “force some joy.” No matter how bad the day was, together they kept finding moments of humor, connection and yes – joy. We talk about her life experiences, why stories about the people we love matter, and how she works to support others and create community as people are in these hardest of places around grief and loss, health and illness, life and death. For more information on Best Life Best Death please visit our website at www.bestlifebestdeath.com Follow us on our social channels to receive pertinent and helpful resources on death, grieving, and more at: Facebook: www.facebook.com/bestlifebestdeath Instagram: www.instagram.com/bestlifebestdeath

“In the Best 3 Months course, you lead us through big picture questions that ultimately ask: Are you going in the direction you want to be going?” When my podcast guest -- Muralist and Live Artist Taylor Gallegos -- made this comment, I could not have been happier. For me, this is what it’s all about: reflecting, talking, learning from one another, and authentically clarifying: what’s my direction and how am I being fully in my life? Taylor says that his previous thinking about his work was like a light bulb shining, but now, with the reflection that the Best 3 Months course offered, that clarity feels like a laser-beam, driving him to expand both his work and life. P.S. Aren't you curious what he means by "Live Artist"? He explains! For more information on Best Life Best Death please visit our website at www.bestlifebestdeath.com Follow us on our social channels to receive pertinent and helpful resources on death, grieving, and more at: Facebook: www.facebook.com/bestlifebestdeath Instagram: www.instagram.com/bestlifebestdeath

Pediatric expert Bonnie Compton and I discuss the death of children. Combining years of experience as an end-of-life doula, child and adolescent therapist, and parent coach, Bonnie brings compassion and practical advice to this difficult subject. Our conversation includes: What can be done to support bereaved parents? How do such deaths affect grandparents/siblings/friends? How can support be asked for and offered? Quite simply, we talk about: How *difficult* this is for all involved, yet how we can be there for each other. www.gentleheartjourneys.com For more information on Best Life Best Death please visit our website at www.bestlifebestdeath.com Follow us on our social channels to receive pertinent and helpful resources on death, grieving, and more at: Facebook: www.facebook.com/bestlifebestdeath Instagram: www.instagram.com/bestlifebestdeath

In episode #56, I talk with Marcy Lindberg, Co-Owner with her husband of Stardust Memorials. Specializing in the online sales of cremation remains and cremation jewelry, Marcy shares so much dynamic and useful information on subjects like: choosing an urn; scattering ashes at land or sea; biodegradable options; selecting memorial jewelry; buying online; and the benefits of preplanning. Listen and you may just find yourself getting more curious about what products and services are available these days! For more information on Best Life Best Death please visit our website at www.bestlifebestdeath.com Follow us on our social channels to receive pertinent and helpful resources on death, grieving, and more at: Facebook: www.facebook.com/bestlifebestdeath Instagram: www.instagram.com/bestlifebestdeath