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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Poetree: The Innovative Urn: Margaux Ruyant's urn honors the life of the deceased while cultivating the new life of a tree -
Putting It Back Together: Exploring Grief through a near-death experience: A 21-year-old woman's near-fatal accident alters her relationship with life. -
Buddhism and the Eastern Middle Ground: In Buddhist tradition, our death falls into a plane of existence that continues even after our final breath
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Categories
Monthly Archives: June 2012
What are some advice for cancer patients? An Interview with Doctor C
How doctors can make a killing keeping end-of-life patients "alive"
This is an interview with an oncologist at a leading cancer treatment center in Tucson, Arizona. We will call him Doctor C. Aurora: What question do you most often receive as an oncologist? Dr. C: “How do you stand it?” … Continue reading
Harry: “And I’m gonna be 40!” Sally: “When?” Harry: “Someday!”
From 'When Harry Met Sally', written by Nora Ephron
In honor of the recently-passed writer, director, and actress, we recommend a weekend marathon of our favorite Nora Ephron films, stories to tug at your hearstrings and leave you with a satisfied smile.
“Notes for a Story of a Man who Will Not Die Alone,” by Dave Eggers
Eggers' imagining of how one man flouts tradition and makes his death into a grand party
Dave Eggers is something of a San Francisco hometown hero, if literary figures can be heroes. His novels, including A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, are well-known and critically-acclaimed. He founded McSweeney’s, a publishing house with a respected quarterly literary … Continue reading
Healing Energy
How the holistic healing practice of Reiki helped one man through the grieving process
This is the story of Christopher Tellez, Reiki practitioner in San Francisco, as told by Antal Polony. At the time of my mother’s death I’d been in the social work field for over a decade. I’ve always been drawn to … Continue reading
Posted in Opening our Hearts
Tagged Christopher Tellez, Dealing with Grief, Holistic Energy, Holistic Healing, Reike, Yoga
2 Comments
Nora Ephron Dies of Leukemia at 71
Sad loss of a funny and talented woman and pioneering feminist
I just heard Ms. Ephron passed away. I’ve always been such a great admirer of Nora’s. Being that we are gunning to launch our full website here at SevenPonds, I will offer some of my favorite quotes of hers in … Continue reading
Posted in Just Passed
Tagged Death, Nora Ephron, Obituary, Quotes, terminal illness, When Harry Met Sally, You've Got Mail
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Children’s Grief Support
Partners In Care help children and families express grief through art and therapy
For over 20 years, central Oregon residents have been going to Partners In Care for healthcare support for everything from physical therapy to bereavement support. The agency offers a unique healthcare experience with a focus on relationships, encouraging patients to … Continue reading
Posted in Something Special
Tagged Camp Courage, Child, Children, Families, Grief, Grief Loss and Bereavement, Hospice, Summer camp
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I’ll never leave, always just a dream away, a star that’s always watching, never turn away, we’ll never leave, always just a thought away, a candle always burning, never turn away the moon will hide, the tree will bend I’m right beside you, I’ll never turn away
— Carly Simon, "Like a River"
SevenPonds at Pride
SevenPonds was proud to support San Francisco Pride 2012
Posted in Inside SevenPonds
Tagged LGBT, Pride, San Francisco Pride, San Francisco Pride Celebration
1 Comment
The Brevity of Life
Examining the meaning of life in Shakespeare's "Macbeth"
One of my favorite Shakespeare plays is Macbeth, and what’s stuck with me the most over the years is the title character’s soliloquy about life, in the play’s final act. The eloquent passage is cynical, but it makes an interesting … Continue reading
Posted in The Next Chapter
Tagged death in literature, Macbeth, Macbeth Soliloquy, Shakespeare, William Shakespeare
1 Comment
“Come Play One More Day” by Angela Rose
Sculpture garden offers a space for families to grieve the loss of a child
Artist and mother Angela Rose has drawn from her private grief to create a public sanctuary for others who have endured the loss of a child. She spent a year contemplating the lives of nine children whose family members and … Continue reading
Posted in Soulful Expressions
Tagged Angela Rose, Art, Grief, Grief Loss and Bereavement, Loss of a Child, Sculpture, Sculpture trail, Visual Art
1 Comment
What are Crystal Singing Bowls? An Interview with Candace Keach
Sounds of solace
Candace Keach is the artistic director of the Spiral Sound of Crystal Bowls, a performance group which creates a soothing auditory and visual immersion experience through the playing of symmetrically arranged, vibrating crystal bowls. Antal: Thanks for speaking with us, … Continue reading
Book Review: “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Victor Frankl
The Holocaust memoir takes a riveting look into the psychology of death camp prisoners and guards
Through Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor E. Frankl offers a compelling glimpse into the human psyche. The Doctor of psychiatry has seen the full span of human nature, losing his parents, brother and pregnant wife to Nazi death camps, and … Continue reading
Posted in Lending Insight
Tagged Auschwitz, Book Review, Frankl, Holocaust, mans search for meaning, Nazi, Pyschology, Viktor Frankl
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“‘Geez, I hope I don’t die.’ I wonder how many times a day we think that?”
George Carlin on death, dying, and dealing with death
The late, legendary comedian discusses death as a reality and as a metaphor in this classic stand-up video. (Due to language, this video may not be appropriate for children under 18.)
Posted in Laughter is Medicine
Tagged Arts, Comedy, Death and Dying, George Carlin, Laughter, Reincarnatin
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The Spiritual Celebration of the Summer Solstice
Nature religion traditions honor the longest day and shortest night of the year with reflection on the life cycle
Yesterday was the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year, the shortest night, and the point in the year when our days gradually become shorter and our nights longer. For cultures that revere nature, the Solstice calls for a … Continue reading
Commemorating one of the gravest end-of-life issues our world faces
The National AIDS Memorial Grove commemorates our culture's epic struggle
San Francisco Representative Nancy Pelosi, who famously said in 1987 that she came to Congress to help fight AIDS, was honored in San Francisco in April. She joined the Community Volunteer Workday at the National AIDS Memorial Grove to commemorate … Continue reading
Saying More with Less
Claudia Emerson unites comedy and tragedy in her short poem to form one perfect whole
There are what could be termed “better” poems about death by Claudia Emerson, but “Early Elegy: Headmistress” intrigued me so much when I first read it that I chose to write about it this week. The poem is short, only eight … Continue reading
Sir Anthony Hopkins Creates Beautiful Music For Living
"Someone died, and the waltz goes on"
I just returned from a much-needed vacation in Florida. Meanwhile, our team has been hard at work preparing for the imminent full launch of the SevenPonds website. In the name of getting the site pushed out to you, our users, … Continue reading
Loss of a Famous Father
Kate Rothko Prizel still mourns the loss of her father forty years after his famous suicide.
After losing her father, the painter Mark Rothko, to suicide and her mother to cardiovascular disease shortly after, the nineteen-year-old Kate Rothko Prizel thought she and her then-six-year-old brother would be fine. They were in the midst of the New … Continue reading
Posted in Soulful Expressions
Tagged Estate, Father's Day, Guardian, Kate Rothko, Loss, Mark Rothko, Painting
3 Comments
What is a Celebrant? An Interview with Charlotte Eulette and Dorry Bless, Part 2
The conclusion of our discussion about celebrants, end-of-life ceremonies, and personalizing ritual
Last week, we published Part 1 of our interview with Charlotte Eulette, the International Director of the Celebrant Foundation & Institute, and Dorry Bless, Board Member and Funeral Committee Chair of the Institute. We continue our conversation about celebrants here … Continue reading
