The Art of Dying

The Art of Dying is a series of community-based death education workshops designed to nurture a positive and curious relationship to our own inevitable ending and to help each other make the most of our (finite) lives. Through discussion, art, exploration, and community, death education breaks the silence surrounding issues of death and dying and empowers us to embrace our mortality and to live life free from the fear of death. This year, the Festival is offering two days of death education – Friday, October 26 and Tuesday, October 30. You are welcome to attend one or both. Please see details below.

Day 1: Living While Dying, Death Café, & The Death I Want
When: Friday, October 26, 10:00am-2:00pm
Where: UU Meeting House
Cost: Suggested donation $20 (lunch included)
To Register: Email provincetowndayofthedead@gmail.com

10:00am-11:30pm Film screening of Living While Dying, an intimate and personal documentary about conscious dying that invites us to re-imagine, in new ways, our own inevitable ending. Followed by Q&A with Director Cathy Zheutlin, a filmmaker whose work explores consciousness and encourages progressive change.

11:30-12:45pm Death Café – a participant-led, open-ended discussion about death with the aim of increasing awareness and helping each other make the most of our (finite) lives. Lunch – and cake – provided! Facilitated by Heather Massey, Death Educator, Home/Family Death Care Consultant, and Funeral Consumer Advocate.

12:45-2:00pm The Death I Want – a presentation about medical aid in dying, which would give those with a prognosis of 6 months or less the right, if their suffering is unbearable, to obtain a prescription medication that would provide a peaceful ending. Presented by Roger M. Kligler, MD, who is living with incurable metastatic prostate cancer and has filed suit for MAiD in the state of Massachusetts.

Day 2: Advanced Directives, Natural Home-Based After-Death Care, Natural Burial Options, & Inspired Funerals
When: Tuesday, October 30, 10:00-3:00pm
Where: UU Meeting House
Cost: Suggested donation $20 (lunch included)
To Register: Email provincetowndayofthedead@gmail.com

10:00am-11:30pm Advanced Directives – a discussion-based presentation on advanced directives, legal documents detailing one’s end of life wishes regarding medical treatments, medical proxy, pain control, body disposition, and more. Facilitated by Anne Baer Clark, RN/BSN, hospice nurse and Metta Institute trained End-of-Life Practitioner.

11:30-12:30pm Natural Home-Based After-Death Care – a presentation about caring for the dead through natural, at-home preparation and preservation of the body for disposition. A practical and ethical approach to  community-based death care. Presented by Heather Massey, Death Educator, Home/Family Death Care Consultant, and Funeral Consumer Advocate.

12:30-1:00 Lunch (provided)

1:00-2:00pm Natural Burial Options allow the body to biodegrade organically, in nature, without embalming or being placed in a sealed coffin. Presentation includes information about both in-earth and at-sea natural burials. Presented by Dawn Walsh, founding director of Provincetown’s Day of the Dead Festival and trained green burial advocate.

2:00-3:00pm Inspired Funerals – a creative exploration of DIY ideas to bring meaning, authenticity, personalization, and ritual to memorial ceremonies and celebrations of life. Presented by Jasmine Tanguay, a certified Funeral Celebrant who works with individuals and families to create inspired end-of-life plans that align with their environmental and other deeply held values.