Living Life Fully While Befriending Death

About Health 8/12/24 on 94.1FM–KPFA.org 

Listen now: https://kpfa.org/player/?audio=428946

Death is a part of life, but many people are afraid to talk about their fears about dying, how they want to live in the present, and their priorities for care at the end of life. Often people find themselves in challenging situations when they are faced with a dying relative or friend, not sure what steps to take to honor the dying person’s wishes. 

Are you prepared? Do you have an advanced health care directive and will or trust? Have you talked to your loved ones about your decisions for care at the end of your life?  If not, you are not alone.

Guest

Eileen Spillane is the founder of Befriending Death, a platform that offers the signature course “Let’s Chat About Death” as well as 1:1 coaching, a book club, and community gatherings. Her most recent course is Befriending Death, Befriending Your Life: Aligning your wild and precious living with what matters most. Launching on 9/14/2024.

Her motivation to create these courses came from many years as a Critical Care Nurse witnessing unnecessary suffering. Her hope is to normalize conversations around death with a supportive, friendly community, so life and death decisions can be approached long before one is hospitalized. In addition to working as a Registered Nurse for over thirty years, Eileen is a meditation and dharma teacher, and works as an active travel guide for international hiking and biking trips. She is a former Zen Hospice Project volunteer and a trained end of life doula.

To learn more about her work and offerings go to https://www.befriendingdeath.com/

Conversations About Death

Death is a part of life, but too often people are afraid to talk about their fears about dying, and their priorities for care at the end of life. Many people find themselves in challenging situations when they are faced with a dying relative or friend, not sure what steps to take to honor the dying person’s wishes.

Are you prepared? Do you have a will? An advanced health care directive? If not, you are not alone. 

** Listen now to About Health (9/11/23) ** https://kpfa.org/player/?audio=407174

Let’s talk about death and about communicating with the people we love while we can. 

Guest

Eileen Spillane is the founder of Befriending Death, a platform that offers the signature course “Let’s Chat About Death” as well as 1:1 coaching, a book club, and community gatherings. Her motivation to create these courses came from many years as a Critical Care Nurse witnessing unnecessary suffering. Her hope is to normalize conversations around death with a supportive, friendly community, so life and death decisions can be approached long before one is hospitalized. In addition to working as a Registered Nurse for the last thirty three years, Eileen is a meditation and dharma teacher, and works as an active travel guide for international hiking and biking trips. She is a former Zen Hospice Project volunteer and a trained end of life doula.

Eileen offers a free book club. In October, she will have two authors joining for a discussion:

  • Joanne Cacciatore, author of Bearing the Unbearable: Love, Loss and the Heartbreaking Path of Grief on 10/10 9:30 AM PST

  • Sally Tisdale, author of A Guide For Future Corpses: A Practical Perspective on Death And Dying 10/12 5 PM PST

To learn more about her work and offerings go to https://www.befriendingdeath.com/

Dying Kindness

“I’m going to die someday. So will you. Let’s all do what we can and make key decisions now in order to be kinder to those we’ll leave behind.” —Cianna Stewart, Dying Kindness

Have you thought about what your loved one will have to do when you die? Will they know your passwords, where your Will is, what your vision is for a funeral or celebration? Have you talked with your relatives about their advanced directives, or is it a taboo topic in your family? Consider the conversations that can bring you closer to your loved ones, and clarify your wishes.

Listen now 12/20/21 on KPFA.org—94.1FM

https://kpfa.org/player/?audio=370014

Guest:

Cianna P. Stewart produces and hosts Dying Kindness, a podcast for people who are going to die someday. The goal is to help people make key decisions now in order to be kinder to those they’ll leave behind. Cianna’s varied resume includes community organizing, HIV prevention, nonprofit management, startups, theater, documentaries, and event production. Cianna’s tagline: Super curious about nearly everything. Tweet @cianna and visit http://www.dyingkindness.com to learn more.