Best Life Best Death

Why is this one of my favorite books? How can a book like this have a positive impact on your view of your life *and* your death? What are some pragmatic topics we could benefit from thinking about? What are some of the thoughtful gems from authors BJ Miller, MD and Shoshana Berger? Listen in as I talk about this book and see if you want to add it to your nightstand pile... A Beginner's Guide to the End: Practical Advice for Living Life and Facing Death.

This week: a joint podcast with The Heart of Hospice and host Helen Bauer. This is swift-talking, wide-ranging, longer-than-usual chat! What brought me into end of life work? Why might any of us want a “supported death”? How can end-of-life workers bring an open mind to any death? How can caregivers be held, metaphorically and literally? What can we learn while in a relationship with hospice? How can we hold expectation vs hope? How do we support the multiple needs of various people involved in any caregiving situation? At the end of life, how do you begin to let go of the bonds of the world? *Bonus trivia: What’s Diane’s end-of-life playlist?

Description:This podcast is jampacked with content, including a discussion of advance directives for dementia, Voluntary Stopping of Eating and Drinking, and a deep dive into decision making. In this week’s conversation, Chaplain Hank Dunn suggests a framework for thinking things through, including asking: 1) What’s the goal that you are trying to accomplish? 2) What would the patient want, and what does the patient think about their current and probable future condition? 3) What is in the best interest of the patient? and 4) What is the prognosis and probable consequences if a certain treatment plan is followed? Join us for all this good thinking and more! Visit website: https://hankdunn.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hospicechaplainhank/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Hard-Choices-for-Loving-People-191343157564700 Join us for all this good thinking and more!

When difficult choices arise around healthcare and the nearing end of life, Hank Dunn has some ideas to help us decide what to do. In his book, Hard Choices for Loving People, he suggests that families consider asking themselves and each other: What are we trying to accomplish? What’s the goal? Are we trying to cure? Are we looking to stabilize functioning? Or are we preparing for a comfortable and dignified death? This podcast is full-full-full of thoughtful content that is important for all of us to consider. 

What an honor to chat with three leading doulas and teachers, Diane Button, Gabby Jimenez and Angela Shook. Their new book combines the best of all that they know – over 30 years of experience with death and dying. The Doula Tool Kit: The Complete Practical Guide for End-of-Life Doulas and Caregivers provides “the guidance and tangible tools that people need to actually feel comfortable to sit with the dying.” Learn more and get the book here - https://www.thehospiceheart.net/ https://www.dianebutton.com/ https://angelashook.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

Eric Rooney and I talk about what it might mean to have a “greener” mindset about death, and how “natural burial” is not new at all, in the Big Scheme of human existence. We talk about 5 ways we can care for bodies in Colorado: burial (buried traditionally in a casket, embalmed or not); flame cremation (the body is burned at high temperature, returning “ashes” to the family); water cremation (dissolving in alkaline hydrolysis, returning fluid to the earth in chosen locations); Natural Organic Reduction/Composting (the body decomposes in a specially designed vessel, ending up as nutrient dense soil); and natural burial (shroud or biodegradable casket, buried without embalming or cement encasement of the casket). What's your plan for after death care? More about Eric and Regeneration Earth here - https://www.regenerationearth.org/ 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, in honor of Thanksgiving here in the US, I share a brief conversation with Hospice Chaplain Hank Dunn. He reads two moving pieces from his book, Light in the Shadows: Meditations While Living with a Serious Illness, and we talk about “letting go” versus “letting be.” 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’s the latest way to organize your stuff and plan for where it goes when you are gone? Enjoy my conversation with Heather Nickerson, Founder of Artifcts, who explains: “Artifcts is a new web- and app-based technology to help you capture, preserve and share the history, the stories, the meaning and the value behind all your stuff. And also, plan for what you want to do next with it? Sell, donate, keep in the family, bequeath, record that it’s already gone?” Why do the stories behind our things matter? Why does having an easy way to *share* these stories matter? What’s the advantage of digitizing all of this? Can we do a better job of “connecting the dots” between generations? Heather and I will be breaking the myth that “no one wants this stuff.” (Hint: they don’t if it’s not easy and if they don’t know the story!) Learn more here - https://artifcts.com/ For more information on Best Life Best Death please visit our website at ⁠⁠www.bestlifebestdeath.com⁠⁠Follow us on our social channels to receive pertinent and helpful resources on death, grieving, and more at:Facebook: ⁠⁠www.facebook.com/bestlifebestdeath⁠⁠Instagram: ⁠⁠www.instagram.com/bestlifebestdeath⁠⁠

Dementia is disruptive, incredibly so. You can’t get help for what you don’t understand, so this path requires gathering information, pushing for an accurate diagnosis, educating yourself and those around you, and finding new approaches for everyone involved. Kay Adams shares valuable information from her extensive experience as a dementia coach: Why does getting an accurate diagnosis matter? Why is neurological screening by itself not enough? What is helpful for caregivers/carepartners to realize about their experience? Why is dementia on the rise, and what can we do? As Kay says in her book, Bedside Witness: Stories of Hope, Healing and Humanity: “This heartbreaking illness and the collateral damage it can leave in its wake is one of the most complicated journeys any human being may ever have to take.” More about Kay here www.kaymadams.com For more information on Best Life Best Death please visit our website at ⁠⁠www.bestlifebestdeath.com⁠⁠Follow us on our social channels to receive pertinent and helpful resources on death, grieving, and more at:Facebook: ⁠⁠www.facebook.com/bestlifebestdeath⁠⁠Instagram: ⁠⁠www.instagram.com/bestlifebestdeath⁠⁠

The Enneagram is a psychological and spiritual map… and a fascinating predictor of what motivates you, drives your responses to others and shows you where your edges are as you learn to be your best self. Who doesn’t want to have insight into themselves and others? Who can tolerate a ‘peek behind the curtain’ of their own blind spots? As I say in our conversation, “I think this is an interesting topic because what we know about ourselves and about how we interact makes such a difference for what we bring to the world and what we bring to our lives… and how we live is how we die.” There are many books, websites and ways to take an Enneagram quiz and find out your ‘type.’ Let me know what you learn! Learn more about Renee at www.enneasight.com For more information on Best Life Best Death please visit our website at ⁠⁠www.bestlifebestdeath.com⁠⁠Follow us on our social channels to receive pertinent and helpful resources on death, grieving, and more at:Facebook: ⁠⁠www.facebook.com/bestlifebestdeath⁠⁠Instagram: ⁠⁠www.instagram.com/bestlifebestdeath⁠⁠