Is Dying “Not As Bad as You Think”?
What’s your take on the popular BBC “IMHO” video?
My first thought was that Dr Kathryn Mannix is a Mr Rogers for the dying: who wouldn’t want her warm and normalizing bedside manner at the deathbed?
I appreciate much of her message, and can’t help but be troubled by other parts of this reassuring video. Read More
Rave Reviews for Natural Death Care Workshop
More than 100 people journeyed to River View, the historic nonprofit cemetery, on April 14th to hear about greener, more meaningful ways of caring for our dead. We received universally high ratings from participants, who had this to say about the event:
- It was the best event we have been to all year.
- Excellent, clear information delivered with good nature.
- I learned SO much, have been educating all my friends!
- I got in touch with my desires so I can give specifics to my kids.
- Wonderfully presented! In the back of my mind I have wanted a natural burial, but knowing more of the details and the possibilities, I am ready to go forward with my plan.
- There was not, as my husband feared, an attempt to sell services. The presenters were all engaged and passionate, bringing us tons of information in a comfortable setting.
- I loved the feel of the cemetery surrounding us and the accessibility of the presenters in such a small group! Supportive and helpful all around!
The best parts were having so many knowledgeable, articulate and experienced experts presenting in one seminar – and hearing their passion about returning death care to families and communities & the simultaneous heartache over how far removed American society has become from death and dying.
Monthly Informational Interview
Wondering what it’s like to work as a celebrant or home funeral guide? Feeling called to work with death, dying, and bereavement but unsure how to engage? I receive an average of five requests each week from people wondering how they might find their way on this path.
Because of the high volume of such requests, I now offer a group informational interview session once a month. Enrollment is limited to four people, by advance registration. Cost of this hour-long, in-person session in SW Portland is $20 per person.
Alternatively, I’m available for phone, Skype, or in-person consultation at the rate of $50 for 30 minutes or $85 per hour.
Reserve your space or schedule a consultation time by emailing me at holly@hollypruettcelebrant.com. No-cost resources in this field are available on our Resource Page.
“Aqua Green Cremation” Comes to Portland
Spaces are filling fast for the workshop that will introduce this option to Portland
While I try to avoid euphemisms, I’ve yet to find an elegant way to refer what to do with a dead body. Straightforward terms such as burial and cremation work well on their own. But to refer to those and other methods collectively, we seem stuck with final disposition.
The latest final disposition option comes with its own tangle of technical and market-friendly terms. Alkaline hydrolysis, also known as resomation, biocremation, and water or flameless or green cremation, is now legal in 15 states and three Canadian provinces. Read More
Last Updated: June 3, 2018 by hollyjpruett Leave a Comment
Staring Down Fate
Watch Staring Down Fate, an important new documentary about mortality and the state of our planet
When Chris Lucash was diagnosed with ALS at the age of 53, he and his wife Alisa and their three young children moved to a community where they and their neighbors could make a place for his dying and death.
A few years earlier, filmmaker Jeff Mittelstadt had begun documenting Chris’ life work. As a federal biologist, Chris had worked for nearly 30 years to reintroduce endangered red wolves into the wild. When he began, zero existed outside of captivity; under his program, red wolf numbers in the wild rose to about 130 before the program was undercut by political controversy. During those years in the field, Chris was exposed to the toxins of industrial agriculture that may have caused the disease that would claim his life.
The day after his diagnosis, Chris and Alisa and Jeff began to make Staring Down Fate, a feature-length documentary that brings us into the intertwined stories of the endangered red wolf and Chris’ journey towards death.
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