We Are All Made of Stardust
FUNERAL BLOG LIFE, Death & RANDOM MUSINGS We Are All Made Of Stardust We are all, essentially, made of stardust. No matter where we come from, we are united by the stars. The elements which make up our bodies, from the iron in our blood cells, to the calcium in our bones, and the carbon in our DNA, were all originally created in the stars. Literally nothing would exist if it wasn’t for these objects of stellar beauty, nuclear powerhouses forging atoms, creating elements, and releasing minuscule gifts of life’s building blocks when it’s time for that star to die, sometimes as a result of a spectacular Supernova explosion. It’s a process that’s been going on for billions of years (NASA reckons the universe is 13.7 billion years old, give or take 200 million years or so…!). So we can thank the stars for everything, and everyone, we love. I’ve…
The After Project
FUNERAL BLOG LIFE, Death & RANDOM MUSINGS The After Project It is often after the funeral which is the hardest. The initial shock or deep grief can have a numbing effect, self-preservation as you’re suddenly spun into conversations about funerals, music choices, differing family opinions, and probate. Planning the service can effectively give you a ‘job’ to do. Something to organise, often whilst feeling totally surreal. And then you go home, after the service. Perhaps to an empty house, perhaps to a family who have lost a parental guide, a sibling, or a carer, and go… now what? How do I do this? Friends say to pop round if you need anything, but you don’t want to be a burden, and family slowly begin to pick up their own lives, perhaps many miles away, because as much as we want it to, life doesn’t stop, even though, for us, it…
How To Have A Greener Funeral
FUNERAL BLOG LIFE, Death & RANDOM MUSINGS How To Have A Greener Funeral It’s fantastic that so many of us are considering our impact on the environment in our day to day lives, and for some it’s natural for these thoughts to extend to what happens to our body after we die. You may well have come across the term ‘green’, ‘natural’ or ‘eco’ burial, which is often considered the gold standard of an eco-friendly funeral. And we are lucky to have a few choices in our local area, including Old Park Meadow near Dunmow, The Arbory Trust up at Barton Glebe in Barton, Cambridge, Brinkley Woodland Cemetery near Newmarket, and Muchwood Green Burial Ground in Ramsey, Cambridge. The Natural Death Centre has a list of natural burial grounds across the UK. There is also GreenAcres Epping Forest in North Weald Bassett, which isn’t part of the Association of Natural…
Speaking At A Funeral – How To Get Through It
FUNERAL BLOG LIFE, Death & RANDOM MUSINGS Speaking at a funeral – tips for how to get through it Having led several funeral services for friends and family, I know first hand how this is quite simply unlike any other sort of public speaking you will ever do. The thought of speaking at a funeral or memorial service can feel completely overwhelming. Will I be able to? What if I choke/cry/need to take a pause? Are my words ‘good’ enough? You want to do them proud, to get yourself through it without falling apart… and there is a huge part of your brain screaming at you that you don’t want to be doing it at all! I find that people often fall into two camps – the ones who know that speaking at a funeral quite simply isn’t something they have to do, and that, for them, they need to…
Rituals
FUNERAL BLOG LIFE, Death & RANDOM MUSINGS Rituals Recently, I went to a really uplifting evening at GreenAcres Living Memorial Parks Epping Forest, learning about the message behind their rebrand, of nurturing beautiful places where life and memories walk hand in hand. I got chatting to their MD, Christopher Koller, about how it is all the little ways people go about remembering those loved and lost which really matter. We then spoke about how the word ‘ritual’ can sometimes feel a bit too ‘hocus pocus’ or religious to some, but as a celebrant, I’m all over it! Which got me thinking, as I believe we structure our whole days around mini rituals, and then I couldn’t sleep that night until I got this poem out my head… enjoy! Rituals The little things we do which centre us in moments fleeting,Which hold space for self, to pause, think, or soothe when seething!That first…
