End-of-Life University Podcast

Ep. 247 Reimagining Death During the COVID-19 Pandemic with Lucinda Herring

Learn some new strategies for coping with after-death care needs at a time when the funeral industry is overwhelmed.

My guest Lucinda Herring is a home funeral and green burial consultant and guide and a licensed funeral director in the state of Washington. She is the author of Reimagining Death: Stories and Practical Wisdom for Home Funerals and Green Burials and will share with us how to rethink home funerals and green burials during this time of change due to the coronavirus. Learn more at her website:

www.lucindaherring.com

Listen here:

This episode includes:

• The work of a home funeral/green burial guide
• What happens when funeral directors are overwhelmed during the pandemic
• How some home funeral practices can benefit families who are dealing with unplanned deaths at home
• How being in the presence of the dead can be a gift
• Tips for shifting energy in the room after a loved one has died
  • Clean and straighten the room
  • Open windows
  • Bring in flowers and candles
  • Play music
  • Cover the body with a lovely cloth or scarf
• How creativity strengthens and heals us during difficult situations
• How to “companion” dying loved ones at a distance
• Why green burial could be a good alternative to traditional burial right now
• How to find out where green burial grounds are located

COVID-19 is forcing us to re-weave death into our lives and into our medical system.”

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Get my book: 7 Lessons for Living from the Dying
• YouTube videos:
  • Suzanne O’Brien
  • Alexandra Wenman
• Get Lucinda’s book: Reimagining Death
• Get Lucinda’s Audiobook here
• Previous interview with Lucinda: Episode 190
• Sign up for Lucinda’s email list and receive Checklist for Planning a Home Funeral/Green Burial
• National Home Funeral Alliance website
• NHFA Pandemic Resources
• Ann Hoffner’s book: The Natural Burial Cemetery Guide
• Green Burial Council website
• Join the team at Patreon.com/eolu and get access to the EOLU mug: “Mind if we talk about death?” (only Patrons can purchase it). PLUS get our new bonuses: the monthly EOL News Update, movie reviews from 2 Doctors and a Movie, and automatic access to A Year of Reading Dangerously!

If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes! Thanks again to all supporters on my page at Patreon.com/eolu, especially my newest Patrons Bob Hoffman, Elizabeth Coplan, and Patty Emmitt! Your contributions make all the difference!

BONUS 10: Love Over Fear – Stories for Precarious Tims

Welcome to this weekly bonus series of brief stories designed to touch your heart and offer you comfort, joy, laughter, and inspiration as we face uncertain times together! Remember always to choose LOVE over fear!

Story 10: What Life is Bringing Me Now

Featured Quote:

Viktor Frankl – Man’s Search for Meaning pp. 98-99

What was really needed was a fundamental change in our attitude toward life. We had to learn ourselves and, furthermore, we had to teach the despairing men, that it did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. … Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual. … When a man finds that it is his destiny to suffer, he will have to accept his suffering as his task; his single and unique task. He will have to acknowledge the fact that even in suffering he is unique and alone in the universe. No one can relieve him of his suffering or suffer in his place His unique opportunity lies in the way in which he bears his burden.”

Viktor Frankl

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