Death and Dying.
Nobody gets out alive, yet we shun the idea of death with all our might. And our abject terror of death—largely unacknowledged—underlies our shunning of older people. We need to get past the terror: since we can’t beat death, we’d better get more comfortable with it, or we’ll ruin our lives trying to avoid it. I’m sure thousands of books have been written (though perhaps not in English) about facing death. For now, I’m pointing to these valuable resources.
Different perspectives
The site, Spirituality & Practice, has a superb set of links to books and articles from different perspectives about facing death. It’s well worth lengthy exploration.
A physician's guidance
Atul Gawande’s book Being Mortal is essential reading for everyone who will die, and whose loved ones will die.
Talking about it
As Gawande stresses, the medical system is designed expressly to keep us alive for as long as possible. But for most of us, that is not the best way to end our lives. The Conversation Project facilitates conversations among family and friends about how we want to die. It’s essential to have these conversations early and often, in order to acclimate ourselves to the reality of death, and to ensure that our last months are lived with intention, in peace and love.
Compassion and Choices
Led by Barbara Coombs Lee, Compassion and Choices provides comprehensive tools for helping us think through how we want to be treated at the end of our lives, whether that end comes about through a natural process of aging or through a disease process. Compassion and Choices works at the state and national levels to educate the public, empower healthcare consumers and advocate for expanded options at the end of life. A powerhouse organization and ally, strongly shaped by Barbara Coombs Lee who also wrote one of the best books about preparing for death that I've read: Finish Strong: Putting Your Priorities First at Life's End. You can read my brief review of this great book here.
The Order of the Good Death
From the website: "The Order is about making death a part of your life. Staring down your death fears—whether it be your own death, the death of those you love, the pain of dying, the afterlife (or lack thereof), grief, corpses, bodily decomposition, or all of the above. Accepting that death itself is natural, but the death anxiety of modern culture is not." This astounding site hosts conversation and information about all aspects of death. All of your questions about death--except, possibly, those about ultimate meaning--will be answered here.
Different perspectives
The site, Spirituality & Practice, has a superb set of links to books and articles from different perspectives about facing death. It’s well worth lengthy exploration.
A physician's guidance
Atul Gawande’s book Being Mortal is essential reading for everyone who will die, and whose loved ones will die.
Talking about it
As Gawande stresses, the medical system is designed expressly to keep us alive for as long as possible. But for most of us, that is not the best way to end our lives. The Conversation Project facilitates conversations among family and friends about how we want to die. It’s essential to have these conversations early and often, in order to acclimate ourselves to the reality of death, and to ensure that our last months are lived with intention, in peace and love.
Compassion and Choices
Led by Barbara Coombs Lee, Compassion and Choices provides comprehensive tools for helping us think through how we want to be treated at the end of our lives, whether that end comes about through a natural process of aging or through a disease process. Compassion and Choices works at the state and national levels to educate the public, empower healthcare consumers and advocate for expanded options at the end of life. A powerhouse organization and ally, strongly shaped by Barbara Coombs Lee who also wrote one of the best books about preparing for death that I've read: Finish Strong: Putting Your Priorities First at Life's End. You can read my brief review of this great book here.
The Order of the Good Death
From the website: "The Order is about making death a part of your life. Staring down your death fears—whether it be your own death, the death of those you love, the pain of dying, the afterlife (or lack thereof), grief, corpses, bodily decomposition, or all of the above. Accepting that death itself is natural, but the death anxiety of modern culture is not." This astounding site hosts conversation and information about all aspects of death. All of your questions about death--except, possibly, those about ultimate meaning--will be answered here.