death & dying

Last year, when Covid entered our lives, we all faced the concept of death a little more directly than perhaps we had done before. Whether we’ve lost someone or not, we can probably agree that the thought of dying is scary.

However, in many cultures, death is not feared, in fact it’s celebrated. If you look at it logically, it’s something we all have to face in our lives at some point. No one is immune to it.

So where did this notion of fear come from? How can we work to overcome it, or at least make the idea of dying or losing a loved one seem a little more comprehensible?

Way back in the late 1800s and early 1900s, most people died at home, cared for by family. Changes in those customs arrived along with the 21st century. With medical advancements, more people were dying at a hospital or in a hospice. A fear of death developed and, in particular, a fear of corpses. And so, the funeral industry was born. This was influential in death becoming increasingly hidden from public view, rather than a familiar part of