075: Bringing Conversations about Death to Life with Kathy Kortes-Miller

We all know that death is a part of life, but it’s the part of life that we, as a society and individuals, often would rather not talk about. And yet, not talking about it isn’t making it go away; and in fact, makes death and dying so much harder for us to process. Kathy Kortes-Miller joins me today to talk about how to bring life into conversations about death. If you’re not a long time listener to the show, you might wonder why we’re talking about death. One of the reasons I do this show is to share a wider range of the human and creative experience than just the Oprah version. I most want you and us all to see that we’re not alone in whatever adversity we’re going through, and you can triumph too. Ready? Let’s do this! Key Takeaways:[1:13] Thank you to our sponsor, SaneBox.com.[2:13] Charlie is pumped to introduce Kathy Kortes-Miller.[3:52] How did Kathy slide into a career in death education?[5:32] How did she feel about death at the early stages of this path?[7:40] How did we get to this point where death is such a taboo topic to talk about?[12:35] Charlie shares a story on death in earlier forms of our societies and existence.[14:06] Why would we want death to become a normative life event?[17:32] How do we open the door to having conversations about death across generations?[20:41] What sort of things have people, who are at the end of their lives, told Kathy they wished they had done differently.[22:28] What are some conversation initiators on how to have a more intentional or celebratory passing?[27:49] How do we make conversations about death something that’s what we want to do vs. what we have to do?[31:54] People don’t necessarily know what to do after your passing. They don’t know what rituals you want or what legacy you want to leave behind.[34:20] Kathy shares a story about a family she worked with whose dad was dying.[35:57] What’s happening now with the traditional funeral model?[37:46] Kathy’s ‘one song’ about death and the process of dying. Mentioned in This Episode:SaneBox This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.productiveflourishing.com/subscribe