How comfortable are you talking about death and dying? For such a natural and inevitable part of life, it can be a crucial conversation many of us put off having with the ones we love most. Join in as Amorahki chats with death doula Joanna Lipsey about why conversations about death are not just important from a practical viewpoint, but also one of the kindest and most loving things you can do for yourself and your loved ones. Listen in to discover how to have conversations about death that serve to enhance all the days of your life right now!
Conversations About Death
Amorahki: Hello everyone, and welcome back to another episode of Superpowers of the Soul. This is Amorahki, and I am so happy to be here today talking “Conversations About Death” with my dear friend and wonderful guest, Joanna Lipsey.
Jo is a such a beautiful human. She’s led an incredible life, traveled extensively, and raised a beautiful family living multi-generationally, She’s is a natural born advocate, caregiver and, I would say, healer. She’ll be the first to tell you that she’s an eclectic, self-taught, life-taught being with no ‘official papers’.
Although, she is technically a certified Death Doula on paper. She certainly doesn’t tow any line though. She takes her own stance on that role, and she is so open to the conversations that she feels are most important and beneficial for people to really be having around death.
As she says, there are two things in this world that are inevitable: birth and death. So, let’s stop treating death as a taboo topic and start to embrace it, which is what we’re about to do together here today.
Jo. I’m so happy you’re here, welcome to the show, Luv.
Joanna Lipsey: Well, thank you sweetie. I’m quite excited and giggling!
Amorahki: It’s so unusual for us, I know! We’re going to be giggling a little bit over the whole show, sorry, it’s just the way we roll. You know, it’s kind of a weird topic to be excited about in some ways, I guess, but I’m really excited about it. I’ve watched you care for your parents over the years, and I’ve watched how you prepared for and handled your mom’s recent passing. And I think that the more we can normalize conversations about death and just shift in general so we’re maybe less afraid or resistant to talking about it, the better.
Let’s just start off with something real simple and easy. I don’t know that everybody out there knows what a Death Doula is. It’s recent, I would say. So, what’s a Death Doula Jo?
Joanna Lipsey: Good question. I’m still figuring it out. Really what it is, is a death or end of life person that can help you look at how you wish to exit the world and be an advocate for you. There are all kinds of different things like help with the family, but really it’s just somebody to open up to and help you talk about how you wish to die and help you with that process. That’s what I take from it. I think everybody would take something very different from it. As you say, I think outside of the general boxes.
Amorahki: Yeah, I’m excited to dive into that because I think that there’s a lot there to explore and there’s some important and beneficial ways that we’re not necessarily inspired or taught to think about this stuff. So, I’m inspired and excited to get into that today.
You know, on a personal note, I love how you say two things are inevitable, birth and death.
I may cry a little bit, but I Iove that I’m having this conversation with you especially because you were such an important person in in my experience of birthing children into the world, and my birthing experiences were definitely outside the box! And they were many decades ago where it was really outside the box. I had such a strong advocate in you. such a strong friend and support person and those are the best experiences of my life. They set the stage for my whole family, which you know I love so much and appreciate so much. So, why wouldn’t we afford ourselves that same opportunity to experience the exit as we do the entrance? It’s just so meaningful and so special. I cannot wait to dive into all of this with you. Shall we take our short break now so we can just roll without interruption?
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