Inviting Death Back into Polite Society

But in the 21st century, death “is now considered impolite to talk about,” says Megan Rosenbloom, director of Death Salon, self-described “resident death expert” on Vice’s Entitlement podcast, and the associate director for Collection Resources at the Norris Medical Library at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. “And people don’t know how to manage that.”

Rosenbloom has given the topic more thought than most of us do. She even talks about how she doesn’t want her own body to be buried after she dies and why.

A Good Death from ChemHeritage on Vimeo.

8 Ways to Be There

Teacher, writer and coach, Heather Plett found herself in the role of student when her mom was dying and her family brought her home to do so.

Tell Him It’s OK to Go

While Vikki Kelleher was saying good-bye to her dad as he died in hospital, she found remarkable moments with her family when even humour and laughter bubbled up. You won’t think of cinnamon the same way again.

 

When Death Is Not Separate

Through Swazey’s research we get a tour of Tana Toraja, Indonesia, where people experience death “not as a singular event, but as a gradual social process.”

AND…Here is an interesting “culture graph” video showing a timeline of how a diverse selection of religions ceremonially acknowledge the dead:

Funerary Rituals from Latent Productions + DeathLab on Vimeo.

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