Making Friends with Death
I recently listened to this fascinating BBC radio programme that explores whether talking more about death can help make us happier.
From our experience of hosting Death Cafes, we’ve clearly observed how talking about death helps people feel more connected to life and when people have end of life plans in place it helps them feel less anxious about the future and more in control of what might happen. Talking about death improves wellbeing.
But how do we start talking more about death and dying?
- A great place to start is by using hooks and triggers; things that are going on in everyday life that you can ‘hang’ a conversation onto or that can trigger a conversation. For example, soaps, movies, TV programmes and what’s in the news. Talking about other people is sometimes easier than talking about ourselves.
- You can also use the Dying Matters Resources to help introduce the subject.
What about more conversations in the workplace to improve employee wellbeing?
Well, this is something that we can support you with. We can:
- Host a Death Cafe for your organisation and/or
- Facilitate a ‘Making Friends With Death To Live Well’ Workshop
Death Cafes provide a safe and confidential space to talk about death, dying and grief. There are no agendas, objectives, or themes; the conversation is simply led by the people in the group.
Our ‘Making Friends with Death To Live Well’ workshop breaks down death as a taboo and provides a space to explore fears and concerns for ourselves and our loved ones. It also provides practical information about the steps we can all take to make friends with death to allow us to live fuller, richer lives.