How to Comfort a Grieving Person
If you want to support someone who has lost a loved one, here are some of the most helpful things you can do — and some common mistakes to avoid.
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Loving Someone Who Has Lost a Spouse: Understanding a Love That Did Not End by Choice
You do not need to erase the dead to be deeply loved by the living. The healthiest relationships after loss are not built on competition with the past. They are built on respect for the full human experience of love, grief, memory, and hope.
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Death Cafés: Talking About the One Thing We All Avoid
In an era shaped by rapid change, global crises, and shifting social norms, conversations about mortality feel more relevant than ever. Many people are seeking ways to reconnect—with themselves, with others, and with the deeper questions that often go unasked.
Death Cafés offer a rare opportunity to engage with those questions in a communal, human way. They remind us that while death is universal, our thoughts and feelings about it are deeply personal—and worth sharing.
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Facets of Grief
In my work as a death doula, I sit with people in some of the most tender and heart aching moments of their lives. Most – if not all – of my clients have to confront grief at one point or another. It shows up differently for every person, every loss, and every season of…
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When Someone You Love Is Diagnosed With Dementia: Advice From Those Who’ve Been There
The following reflections come from wonderful daughters who have walked this road with their mothers (and sometimes fathers, too). They are all expert caregivers. Their advice isn’t about doing everything perfectly—it’s about staying grounded, connected, and supported as you move forward.
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MJ and the Three-Olive Martini
The transformation that can occur when people are brave enough to examine their thoughts and beliefs is incredible. We talk about people being “ready to die”. I have seen people absolutely not ready to die, not yet having come to terms with their lives, and people that find that place of grace and serenity before they go.
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Human Composting: A Natural Return to the Earth
Have you heard of human composting? It’s not as “icky” as it sounds. For those seeking meaningful, sustainable options, human composting—also called natural organic reduction—is a process that offers just that: a return to the earth in the most literal sense.
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Body, Brain, Mind and Consciousness
Contemplating consciousness, perception and mind has been a lifelong pursuit. The question of the nature of our existence is like a little muse that sits on my shoulder all the time.
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Saying Good-bye (Ta Ta for now) to Barbara
Less than a month ago I attended the funeral (celebration of life) of a very special woman named Barbara. I got to know her through my weekly visits to a memory care facility in the city. She was often accompanied by her lovely and amazing companion; Jenny. Jenny – knowing how important socialization is for people living with dementia – frequently…
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Who Do You Think You Are?
Science shows us that we are not made of static parts, but of patterns—processes in motion, constantly assembling and dissolving. We are not so much “things” as we are “events,” happening over time. And yet throughout all this movement we hold on to a sense of singular identity. A name. A face in the mirror. A feeling of being “me.”
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When is a Blog not a Blog?
When it’s a newsletter! Hi Everyone! This isn’t my usual blog post, but I’ve been reflecting that it has been about a year since I first started publishing on my website. Perhaps an update is in order! I have had a very busy twelve months. A year ago, I had just accompanied one of my…
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When “the Villain” in Your Life Dies: Grief and Eulogy
Have you ever been to a funeral of a loved one and wondered if you were in the right place because the eulogy was so different from what you knew of that person?
