Author Archives: Dana Sitar (Blog Writer, SevenPonds)

My Girl by Howard Zieff

"When your dad's an undertaker, your mom's in heaven, and your grandma's got a screw loose... it's good to have a friend who understands you."

  After a more-than-twenty-year hiatus, I put on the movie My Girl this week, and I wasn’t prepared for how moved I would be by the end. My memories of the clips I’ve seen throughout my life promised a cheesy film about … Continue reading

Posted in Lending Insight | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

“Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh.”

-George Bernard Shaw

  Image credit: Top, Middle, Bottom (Creative Commons)

Posted in Laughter is Medicine | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

This American Life on School Violence and Student Deaths

The Harper High School story reminds us that death and violence still happen every day.

In the wake of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newton, Connecticut, the storytellers at This American Life brought us a show recently to remind us that student death and gun violence aren’t all that unfamiliar in many of America’s schools. The … Continue reading

Posted in Something Special | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Death Cafes Create a New Kind of Space to Talk about Death and Dying

They're popping up all around the world now and prompting this important conversation.

Sometimes you just need to talk about death. You don’t need a therapist. You don’t need a self-help book. You don’t need a support group. You just need to say the word death and talk about what it means to you … Continue reading

Posted in Something Special | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment




”I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work; I want to achieve immortality through not dying.”

-Woody Allen
Posted in Laughter is Medicine | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment




Metaphors on Death

Cultural beliefs about life, death, and the afterlife dictate how people around the world experience and ritualize the end of life.

A common tactic for understanding the complexity of death and end-of-life is to liken it to other parts of life that are a little simpler to comprehend. Though this is done commonly across cultures, the metaphors used differ from culture … Continue reading

Posted in Cultural Perspectives | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment