Tackling the taboo

Stand up and be counted, death workers

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Three things yesterday – a conversation, an interaction and a presentation – yesterday made me wonder why we don’t talk more about death workers.

At the Everyday Compassion conference in Glasgow yesterday, Kerrie Noonan from Australia’s Groundswell Project sought me out to tell me she’s a fan of Fling. We chatted about what we both do… rogue death champions, working outside the system (mostly).

Kerrie said she prefers to use the term death workers for the likes of us and all the people she encounters in various end-of-life roles.

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The big full stop – my view of afterlife

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Have you ever noticed Final Fling’s logo has a full stop in it? The big full stop – my view of afterlife.  You see I believe we die and we’re done, gone.  I was with my dad when he died. His ‘passing’ was electric: it felt like 5,000 volts leapt from him to me and […]

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Women Do Death Differently

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10 years ago, it occurred to me that maybe women do death differently. That’s when I bought the domain name,  Final Fling, in the hope that I could contribute in some way. We’re more about emotional engagement than transaction. We’re collaborative, supportive, we cut to the chase and focus on the important things. We’re good at […]

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Talking about life and death: abortion

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Listening to Aspen Baker‘s TED talk about abortion has shed new light on my thinking about talking about life and death. I was a little shocked at the realisation that I haven’t touched on abortion in all my considerations of life and death issues. As a life and death topic, and a taboo of a […]

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When’s a good time for talking about death?

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When is a good time for taking about death? We think any time at all. We advocate openness, tackling the taboo. We believe it’s good to talk to children about death and dying to make it a normal part of life, not something mysterious and scary. We think it’s good to check in from time with friends, family, partner on thoughts. This week we’ve invited Elaine Bramhall her thoughts the subject.

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Suicide and young adults

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Suicide and young adults is a growing issue. This week Catriona Taylor shares thoughts about suicide and young adults, a topic close to her heart. She’s making a film called Careless to help combat the problems. Please help the project happen.

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Dying to Live

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If you’re dying to live – or even more, if you’re not dying to live – maybe because of hard times, emotional stress, confusion, illness – we think you ought to treat yourself to Dying to Live workshops that take place in Dorset in November and Cornwall in June each year. Read more about them and book now for early bird rates.

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To Absent Friends Festival

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To Absent Friends: a festival of remembrance launches 1-7 November 2014 across Scotland. Coordinated by Good Life Good Death Good Grief it’s been conceived as a way of remembering our loved and lost. See the film about the idea behind To Absent Friends. To Absent Friends, a People’s Festival of Storytelling and Remembrance is an opportunity to revive lost traditions and create […]

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Resources & Links

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This site is jam packed full of Resources & Links: information, tips, signposting and help.

Here’s what you can do:

Browse our big fat blog with lots of information and resources
Sign up to use our FREE Life Planning Tools so you can sort your affairs (and get on with leading your life)
Check out the Marketplace to find funeral services, legal and financial services, funeral plans and more.

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Final Fling’s Death Cafe and Death Meet-ups

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Final Fling’s Death Cafe and Death Meet-ups provide a warm, friendly, safe space to explore thoughts and experiences of life and death.
We ran the first Death Cafe in Scotland in 2013 to mark Dying Matters Awareness Week and ran them for several years each quarter.
We’ve broadened the events out and call them Death Meet-ups

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Talking about death

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Despite the fact that we all die, some people seem to have difficulty talking about death and dying. Final Fling encourages talking about death and dying. We hold Death Cafes, blog on life and death and chat in social about death and dying. A spirited pragmatic approach.

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