How Do We “Reimagine End of Life?”

In this first part of a two part interview, I sit down with Jeannie Blaustein to talk to her about Reimagine End of Life, both about her role as the founding chair and their upcoming event in New York on October 27th through November 03, 2018. Jeannie has a PhD in Clinical Psychology from City College of New York as well as her Doctorate of Ministry in Pastoral Studies and Counseling from New York’s Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion. 

Editor’s Note: This interview has been edited for length and readability. 

Jeannie Blaustein, founding chair of Reimagine End of Life

Colleen Ferguson: Hi Jeannie, do you mind starting by telling our readers what Reimagine End of Life is?

Jeannie Blaustein: Reimagine End of Life is a city-wide conversation and exploration asking big questions about life and death. This is really focused on public and community-driven conversation. One of the unique aspects about Reimagine End of Life is that it’s multidisciplinary: We work closely with artists of all media and all kinds: dance, sculpture, painting, music, etc. We also work with health care professionals and institutions, faith leaders, and people in the the tech and design worlds. When we can, we try to bring these people together. It’s very much an opportunity to think about what it’s like to live well and fully up until the end

Colleen: Can you tell me how Reimagine End of Life started? 

Jeannie: In the spring of 2016, IDEO — a global design and consulting firm — had a Chief Creative Officer (Well, he’s still the CCO) named Paul Bennett. At the time, his father had died, and Paul began asking big questions. He began thinking about how we’re currently dying and how we might die differently.

So IDEO started a “digital challenge” with the premise: How might we reimagine end of life? They got back scores of submissions from a really wide range of people. Everything from comic strips on buses to redesigns of the ICU and digital bracelets.

The response was so strong that they decided to take a sample of 30 of the submissions and showcase those, and that’s how they came up with the idea for a “mini-festival” in San Francisco. The whole thing was sponsored by the innovation arm of the company (which I believe is called Open IDEO). They hired Brad Wolfe as the executive director, and  sponsored and supported this week-long event series around the city using core venues, plus a large-scale opening event in Grace Cathedral. This was in October 2016, the very first Reimagine End of Life event.

Colleen: Let’s talk about the upcoming Reimagine End of Life event in New York, which will start on Saturday, October 27th. This will be the very first one that’s not in San Francisco. How would you say New York City is receiving it thus far?

Jeannie: For San Francisco’s spring event in 2018 we had 175 events. We had planned for 100, but we got a strong level of interest that pushed it to 175.

And since it’s “year one” in New York, we began with a goal of 50-75 events, and now we have 300! The interest has far exceeded my expectations. We’re really excited and gratified to see so many different kinds of institutions coming on board. Three hospice systems are sponsoring it, and we have physicians from all levels of health care, artists working across all media, faith leaders who have created really interesting programs about how different faith traditions approach end of life, and community organizations addressing racial inequities at the end of life. The response has truly been amazing. The New York Times just published a story about it yesterday.

Colleen: Yes, I saw that! I received a Google alert about it.

Jeannie: Oh wow. Yes, it just really gives us a sense that it’s not just about getting people in the door. We believe that what we’re doing will have a direct impact. Every Reimagine event is created by local institutions. We do have some common threads: We encourage all of our hosts to read our intention, and we have a memory box that has guidance on preparation, wonder, and remembrance.

Credit: Letsreimagine.org

Colleen: The event I attended at the 2018 SF Reimagine (led by Day Schildkret) followed those themes of wonder and remembrance, and it was a really beautiful experience. I had some great conversations with people, and if I were in New York, I’d definitely be coming to this one! With the next one set to kick off in one week, is there anything else you want people to know about Reimagine?

Jeannie: Reimagine helps us come into the reality of death. Death is real for absolutely everyone, and people are hungry to talk about it. Reimagine provides the space and community and evocative experiences that allow people to come together. Death is so personal, but it also ties us all together. It’s both completely intimate and completely universal.

A lot of things that happen at Reimagine allow people to go deeply into their own feelings and experiences. No Reimagine week will ever be the same. It’s the room and the people who really make the event. It’s very much like life — we don’t know what’s coming, and we’re inviting people to join us and be open to what wisdom there might be.

Join us next week when we continue our interview with Jeannie and talk about her experience with end of life and how she came to be the founding chair of Reimagine.