Best Life Best Death

💜 💜💜 I am moved and humbled to share this book and this conversation with you this week.

This week on BLBD: award-winning author and super interesting person, Amy Shea, with a topic that is at the edge of what many of us are familiar with. I am pleased that this is my 250th episode, representing what I hope to bring to the table – both the familiar and unfamiliar ends of our learning curves about death and loss.

For those just joining me on socials, hello! I am thrilled that this week brings episode #250 of the Best Life Best Death podcast.

When I started this adventure in 2019, all I knew was that I had an inner call to work with death. Didn’t know about podcasts, didn’t know about death doulas, didn’t know there was such a thing as end-of-life education. Heck, I had never been on Facebook, let alone Instagram or any other platforms!

Didn’t know the term deathwalker, hadn’t met Sarah Kerr, or Tarron Estes, or the deeply thoughtful team at the Conscious Dying Collective. Didn’t know there was a field of colleagues I would be eager to meet. Didn’t know there were conferences about death that were filled with life. Didn’t know there was a rising tide of books I’d want to read — and authors I’d have the chance to interview.

Now I know: I am a deathwalker. I am a death doula and coach. I am a podcast creator and host; a teacher and presenter on end-of-life topics. I am a strong and truly interested interviewer. I am in my lane, deep in my purpose, grateful to be alive, giddy to be among all of you in all the various ways we know each other.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

That is a big, key question. You can explore more of what Weller has to say by listening to BLBD this week, or reading In the Absence of the Ordinary: Soul Work for Times of Uncertainty.

I so appreciate the wisdom and writing of Francis Weller. His book The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief has been a touchstone for me, and now this book offers more perspective on grief, aging, sorrow, and “times of uncertainty.” Listen this week as I read Chapter 4 from In the Absence of the Ordinary: Soul Work for Times of Uncertainty.

Listen here: https://bestlifebestdeath.com/podcast/

Another tremendous thinker and writer on grief, Claire Bidwell Smith, LCPC. Check out BLBD #144, “Conscious Grieving: How Might We Engage and Transform Through Loss?”

And so begins Chapter 4 of this beautiful book of essays.

Have you read Francis Weller’s book In the Absence of the Ordinary: Soul Work for Times of Uncertainty? This week, I’ll be sharing a chapter from it on BLBD.

Thank you to my BLBD guest this week – experienced death doula Vanessa Johnston. I so appreciate her focus on connection, comfort, compassion, and honoring the story.

@‌denverEOLDoula

https://www.denvereoldoula.com

Have you ever wondered what a “death doula” does? Doulas offer compassion, guidance, and information to help people better understand the end of life. This week, I talk with Vanessa Johnston, an active doula in Colorado, as she shares “a day in the life of a doula.” How do people find her? At what point do they typically reach out? Why do supportive colleagues matter so much? How does she structure her work and fees? And how does she — as a compassionate companion — recharge and care for herself while working so closely with death and dying?

https://www.denvereoldoula.com

https://coeolcollaborative.org

https://endoflifeoptionscolorado.org

@‌denverEOLDoula

Listen here: https://bestlifebestdeath.com/podcast/