How do you make people aware of vital services which no one really wants?
Let's face it, most people do not want to think about death and certainly don't want to talk about it!
Two of my Funeral Celebrant friends and I just had a lovely lunch together and one of the things we talked about was "how do you market a service that no one wants"? End of Life and Funeral services are difficult subjects for a lot of people to think about, let alone talk about, and no one really wants them!
The reality is, we are all mortal beings and our bodies have finite life-spans and there are numerous ways our life may come to an end. Our bodies will, one day, stop working and yes, we will all die at some point.
So, what are some ways you can ease your own mind, and the minds of the people you care about, when it comes to these subjects?
(1) Doing your own research, having an End of Life Doula as support, asking your doctor, and having the conversations with the people you care about!
(2) Deciding how you would like to see things unfold for you at your end of life and how you would like your funeral to be.
(3) Having all your end of life documents in place, such as your Will, Enduring Power of Attorney, Advance Care Directive and preferences for whether you'd like to die at home if you receive a terminal diagnosis (an End of Life Doula can help you to get these documents prepared).
(4) As NSW has recently enacted Voluntary Assisted Dying, thinking about what your beliefs, wants and needs are regarding this, having the conversation with the people you care about, and most importantly, write it down, document everything and if you choose to go down this path, include it in your Advance Care Directive.
(5) Write down some ideas for your funeral service, such as burial or cremation, where you'd like the service, whether you'd like a service at all, music and flower preferences, whether you want your funeral to be as environmentally friendly as possible, coffin preferences, whatever YOU want and keep this document separate from your Will as the Will is dealt with after the funeral is over (too late for funeral planning), and if you have a pre-paid funeral, or other funeral fund, keep these documents all together in a safe place, and importantly, let people know where they are, so when you do pass away, it's one of the first things they look at so they know exactly what you want and what your plans were.
Pre-planning and documenting your wishes and having the conversations about your end of life with the people you care about is such a gift to them.
When someone is grieving your death, the last thing they need is to have no idea what your wishes were as this can be so stressful and upsetting for them, so think about giving this last wonderful gift to your loved ones.
So, this is how we can make people aware of these vital services no one really wants, research, education, starting the conversations with loved ones, normalising conversations about death, finalising all your end of life documentation, and feeling the peace of mind this brings to all. In the end, it's not that hard.
