Talking about death and dying is talking about life and living!  I believe there are essential qualities to a healthy conversation about death and dying………..well……….really I believe they are the same essential qualities when having any conversation!

• Non-judgment ::: Tolerance for the opinions and variety of ideas and beliefs that will be presented.
• Compassion ::: Kindness and sensitivity not only for other’s attitudes, but also for ourselves as we explore the complexity of discussing life and death.
• Honesty ::: Genuine expression of beliefs ::: not falling into cliches and societal norms when discussing aging, dying and death.
• Active Listening ::: Attentive listening for new understandings and deeper meanings that may be expressed.
• Flexibility ::: Not being rigid or defensive while dialoguing.  Allow for the possibility that definitions of words such as health, healing and hope, may change and grow as life evolves.
• Tolerance for Ambiguity and Paradox ::: Sometimes more questions than answers surface during conversations about death.  Recognize that life is strong and fragile; simple and complex; joyful and sorrowful.
• Respect ::: Each individual has the right to their own decisions.  Be prepared to not state your opinion or agree to disagree respectfully.  Never force difficult conversations.  Respect should always be honored when an individual states they do not want to talk about death or dying.
• Humor ::: Laughter is a very useful when talking about the human condition!

Talk about death and dying to inspire life and living.

Even though grief and grieving are a natural aspect of life, it can be overwhelming physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.  Robert A. Neimeyer, Ph.D. has dedicated his life to the field of thanatology through his extensive research on the topics of death, grief, loss, and suicide intervention. Dr. Neimeyer is a professor and director of [...]

Gordon Thornton, PhD, FT, professor emeritus from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, began teaching a death and dying course in 1975.  During the recent ADEC Conference (Association for Death Education and Counseling), we enjoyed a conversation about some of his personal and professional experiences and beliefs about living life & dying death.  He mentions one of [...]

Dave shares insights into his philosophies of life and death………..as the author of  Yeah Daves’ Guide to Livin’ the Moment…….Getting to Ecstasy through Wine, Chocolate and your iPod Playlist, I knew we’d have lots to talk about!  I really love his idea of experiencing   A Beautiful Moment ~ A Funny Moment ~ & A Delicious [...]

David Kaminski has been working in Hospice care for 16 years.  He embodies the Hospice philosophy through the respectful, non-judgmental, compassionate care that he provides the dying.  I really like his approach of supporting individuals who are dying, by helping them explore if they are peaceful and/or what would help them become peaceful within their [...]

This is the first part of a two part series interviewing Michael Liebman.  Thank you Michael for sharing your personal thanatology by sharing some of your personal thoughts and experiences with death and dying & life and living.   Your honesty and sincerity are palpable.  I really enjoyed your concept of life being a dynamic, [...]

Thanatology than · a · tol · o · gy                    [than-uh-tol-uh-jee] n. the study of death and dying Personal Thanatology Reflect · Share · Live v.   the lifelong discovery process where you (1) reflect on and explore your personal experiences, thoughts, memories, beliefs, stories and questions about death and dying; (2) share your ideas and [...]

I so enjoyed having my very first living life dying death video blog interview be with my friend and colleague, Penelope Denton.  Penelope shared openly about her mother’s death and the childhood memory of the death of her pet turtle.  This interview is a great example of my intent with this blog:  creating a forum [...]

“It’s not that I’m afraid to die, I just don’t want to be there when it happens”. Woody Allen This is so true for many people, including me:   “Hey, I’ve got plans next week!” . . . living life dying death. . . is a call to conversation. I am passionate about listening and talking [...]