To understand oneself from a place of ones own mortality, and as Kathryn Mannix says in her book ‘With the End in Mind’, in death ‘there is usually little to fear and much to prepare for’. This is true for you and your loved ones. Having clarity and understanding of what is happening, what’s to come and how to prepare for death, lessens anxiety, creates ability to plan and most importantly enables us to spend quality time in the present.

Good Endings…by ‘Good’ I mean: Our own, Informed and Prepared for, span across practical, psychological, emotional and spiritual dimensions. Good endings encompass qualities of care, humanity and choice with intention to communicate the value of death and to support meaningful engagement with our relationship with death and dying. I feel strongly that knowledge is power and I advocate for everyone to have access to it, so that we all can feel empowered to accompany one another in death.

Let’s think of this as creating our own ‘Wishlist’ listing our priorities, finding what we are happy to compromise on and what we aren’t. I call this a 'Good Endings file’. This is an act of love to those who will care for us at the end of life and when after we die.