WELCOME TO OUR BLOG
Welcome to the SevenPonds.com blog – a community-driven extension of SevenPonds.com! I hope you find comfort and community in the resources and stories featured here. I’m always happy to hear from readers and can be reached at suzette@sevenponds.com.
FEATURED
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10 Facts About Hospice Care You May Not Know" />
10 Facts About Hospice Care You May Not Know: NHPCO stresses that hospice is about living fully, not preparing for death. -
Man of Many Faces" />
Man of Many Faces: A niece says goodbye to her favorite gay uncle, in whom she confided about her own sexuality -
Last Rites: A Catholic Send-Off" />
Last Rites: A Catholic Send-Off: A look at the religion's final prayer procession for the dying
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Monthly Archives: June 2011
Blood, Oil, and Water: A Portrait of my Grandfather
Part Two: Bottles
This is the story of Random Bear as told by Aurora Wells. It is broken up into three parts, according to the distinct periods of his grandfather’s paintings. This is Part Two: Bottles… Read Part One here. Sweden, 2009 I … Continue reading
Posted in Opening our Hearts
Tagged Art, Biography, Cultural Perspectives, Memorial, Parenting and Family Issues
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Zen Hospice Project
Mindful grief support and hospice care in the Bay Area
The Zen Hospice Project is a San Francisco- based organization dedicated to an innovative approach to end-of-life care and grief support. They offer workshops, trainings, and consulting services rooted in the Buddhist tradition of compassion, focused on alleviating suffering. The … Continue reading
Posted in Something Special
Tagged Grief, Grief support, Hospice, Hospice Care, Palliative Care, San Francisco, Zen Hospice Project
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Death XXVII
by Khalil Gibran
Then Almitra spoke, saying, “We would ask now of Death.” And he said: You would know the secret of death. But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life? The owl whose night-bound eyes … Continue reading
Bringing the Bucket List Out Into the Open
Street Art Addresses Death and Dying
The idea of the bucket list has emerged in the conversation about death and dying, the concern that we may reach the end of life without doing all that we wished to do. This week’s featured project allows one community … Continue reading
Posted in Soulful Expressions
Tagged Art, Before I Die, Bucket List, Candy Chang, Death and Dying, Installation art, New Orleans, Public art, Street Art
2 Comments
What is an Undertaker? An Interview with Patrick McNally: Part Two
"The Daily Undertaker" tells all
Patrick McNally is the inspired real-life funeral director behind the popular blog The Daily Undertaker, which explores ritual and art surrounding death and dying. In the the second part of our most in-depth “Professional Advice” yet, Patrick discusses the significance of … Continue reading
Posted in Professional Advice
Tagged Art, Funeral, Funeral Industry, Funeral Trade, Memorial, Memorial Service, Personalized Ritual
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Physician-Assisted Aid-in-Dying: A New Front in the Culture Wars?
The End-of-Life Debate Heats Up
A new front in the so-called culture wars may well be forming. All the factors are there: a vast disparity of opinions reinforced by geographic and cultural segregation, passionately-defended religious mores pitted against the social and economic motives of those … Continue reading
Blood, Oil, and Water: A Portrait of my Grandfather
Part One: Boats
This is the story of Random Bear as told by Aurora Wells. It is broken up into three parts, according to the distinct periods of his grandfather’s paintings. This is Part One: Boats… Sweden, 1992 Once, when I was a … Continue reading
Posted in Opening our Hearts
Tagged Art, Biography, Cultural Perspectives, Parenting and Family Issues
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Making Decisions about End of Life Care
New developments and new ways of looking at death are changing the way we make end-of-life decisions
Healthcare decisions can be a major cause of stress for end-of-life patients and loved ones, particularly when they don’t fully understand their options or their rights. When patients don’t know their options, it is impossible to clearly convey their wishes … Continue reading
“The Great White Ocean”
by Antony and the Johnsons
Swim with me my mama when I dive In the ocean of death, I will cry If I am not with my family You could be my friend eternally Swim with me my sister when I dive In the great … Continue reading
Jackass Star Ryan Dunn Dies in Fatal Car Crash
MTV daredevil died when his car crashed through a guardrail in West Goshen, PA this morning.
Ryan Dunn, one of the stars of the popular MTV show and movie trilogy Jackass, and a member of the CKY Crew, died early this morning in a car crash in West Goshen, PA. An unidentified passenger was also killed … Continue reading
Posted in Just Passed
Tagged Celebrity Death, Jackass, Johnny Knoxville, MTV, Obituary, Ryan Dunn, Twitter
3 Comments
Pleasure Healing: The Hand-Sized Guide to Self-Healing
Step-by-step mindful practices for starting a new life after grief
During a recent visit to the Kabuki Gardens of San Francisco’s Japantown (where I’d stopped in for a Swedish massage), I picked up the delightful read Pleasure Healing: Mindful Practices & Sacred Spa Rituals For Self-Nurturing. As I waited for my … Continue reading
Posted in Sharing Suzette
Tagged Books and Literature, Grieving, Healing, Mindful Practices, Personalized Ritual, Spa
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A Street Artist’s Memorial to Homicides
Artist Swoon honored the missing women of the Juarez femicides with a portrait of an early victim.
In 2008, the artist Swoon, known for her life-size wheatpaste prints and cutouts of figures displayed throughout the streets of New York City, created a memorial to the victims of female homicides in the northern Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez. … Continue reading
Posted in Soulful Expressions
Tagged Chihuahua, Ciudad Juárez, Memorial, Mexico, Mission District, San Francisco, Street Art, Swoon, Watson
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What is an Undertaker? An Interview with Patrick McNally: Part One
"The Daily Undertaker" tells all
Patrick McNally is the inspired real-life funeral director behind the popular blog The Daily Undertaker, which explores ritual and art surrounding death and dying. In the first installment of our most in-depth “Professional Advice” yet, Patrick reveals his honest insight … Continue reading
Posted in Professional Advice
Tagged Funeral Homes, Funeral Industry, Personalized Ritual, Promession, The Daily Undertaker
4 Comments
A Dying Girl Shares Her Bucket List, and In Doing So Gains a Chance at Completing It
Alice Pyne’s Blog About Her Struggles With Cancer Has Touched A Worldwide Nerve
One week ago yesterday, Alice Pyne, a 15-year old girl from Ulverston, U.K., started a blog called Alice’s Bucket List. The tagline reads: “I’m 15 and I have terminal cancer. I’ve created a bucket list because there are so many … Continue reading
“If You Leave, You’re Gonna Die”
The tragedy that revealed my gift
This is the story of Shaunte, as told by Aurora Wells… “Don’t leave the house,” I said. “If you leave, you’re gonna die.” Chris looked back at me, his hand still resting on the brass doorknob. My mother peered in … Continue reading
Baumschulenweg Crematorium
Architecture of crematorium incorporates healing, peace into space.
Designed by renowned architects Axel Schultes and Charlotte Frank and completed in 1999, the Baumschulenweg Crematorium in Berlin, Germany remains one of the most outstanding contemporary buildings in the city. Although bearing the title “crematorium”, the tranquil space offers far … Continue reading
Posted in Soulful Expressions
Tagged Architecture, Berlin, Cremains, Cremation, Cremation Ashes, Crematorium, Crematory, Funeral home
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How to Cope with a Terminal Illness? An Interview with Michael Engelberg
A longtime oncologist shares his thoughts on coping with a terminal condition and dying a "good death"
Doctor Michael Engelberg is an oncologist of 40 years, based at Cedars-Sinai medical center in Los Angeles, California. Aurora: Let’s say I’ve just been diagnosed with cancer, or another terminal illness. What should my first steps be? Dr. Engelberg: I … Continue reading
AIDS at 30 Years — Positive Developments at Last
Thanks to Aggressive Spending Initiatives, Worldwide HIV Infections Are Leveling Off, But Many Challenges Lie Ahead
A cure for AIDS has been discovered, if only for one person. After receiving a bone marrow transplant from an individual with a genetic immunity to the disease — about one percent of Caucasians carry such an immunity — Timothy … Continue reading
The Sound of a Gunshot
How a stranger's death changed my life
This is an anonymous story, as told by Aurora Wells… You hear noises in this city every day. Even in a neighborhood quiet as mine. You think, what was that? You think, it’s probably just fireworks. Or maybe a tire … Continue reading