Tag Archives: Oregon

What Is a Life-Cycle Celebrant? An Interview With Holly Pruett

Holly Pruett helps clients tell their stories through ceremony and ritual

Today SevenPonds chats with Holly Pruett, a life-cycle celebrant based out of Portland, Oregon. Holly is a certified Life-Cycle Celebrant through the Celebrant Foundation and Institute. She helps her clients find a way of telling their stories at pivotal times in their … Continue reading

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A Rose is a Rose By Any Other Name – Or Is it?

As California legalizes "physician aid in dying," we consider the progression of past terms: "physician assisted suicide" & "euthanasia"

To my surprise, as well as others closely watching California legislation, physician aid in dying became legal last week when Governor Brown signed “The End of Life Option Act.” It all happened quickly and unexpectedly behind closed doors. California became … Continue reading

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Should We Have the Right to Choose Our Deaths?

Assisted dying opens a difficult question on whether we should choose our own deaths or facilitate others'

Should someone with terminal illness, chronic pain or an otherwise severely compromised quality of life have the right to choose the time of his or her own death? How should they decide? Who should help them? How should they do … Continue reading

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Tolkotin Native Americans: Rituals for the End of Life and Burial

Why Native American traditions for death and dying captivated early explorers.

North America, circa 1831: Irishman Ross Cox had long braved his emigration to America and finally published Adventures on the Columbia River. The early explorer’s book is integral to our understanding of the era, and not just because it informs … Continue reading

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Lotta’s Fountain and the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake

A San Francisco landmark is a poignant reminder of the past

Today marks the 107th anniversary of the Great 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Every year on this day, residents of San Francisco gather around Lotta’s fountain (located at the intersection of Market, Geary and Kearny) to commemorate that moment of silence, right … Continue reading

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How to Die in Oregon by Peter Richardson

HBO’s How to Die in Oregon is a Heart-Wrenching Experience

Peter Richardson’s documentary How to Die in Oregon, which premiered last night on HBO, is not easy viewing. Throughout its 108 minutes people die, discuss their death beforehand, say last goodbyes to their children, and slog through the last stages … Continue reading

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