On Thursday this week I will turn 56. I’m not entirely sure how this has happened, but I am now ensconced firmly in middle age, the time when you look back as much as you look forward. The three-year long process of writing ‘D is for Death’ has involved a lot of looking back – to the losses in my life, to the journey I have taken to be here now (writing this blog in the library at the University of Huddersfield, in between seeing students in my capacity as a Royal Literary Fund writing fellow). During this time – post-pandemic, post-cancer – I have researched the cultural and political history of death and dying in this country and examined the state of play of death and dying across the UK today. All to help me face my own mortality and to help others do the same.
I am not the only one who is on a mission to drag death kicking and screaming into the open. There is a growing #deathpositive movement, reflecting our desire for more meaning in death as well as in life. And did you know that as well as being my birthday week, this is (yes, I know, far more important) Dying Matters Awareness Week? Run annually by the charity Hospice UK, there are many events countrywide where the focus is on getting us to talk more openly about death, ‘a moment to encourage all communities to get talking in whatever way, shape or form works for them’. This year’s theme is the language we use and the conversations we have around death and dying, particularly between healthcare professionals and patients, their carers and their families.
It’s not too late to get involved. Search out events in your area or online. You can attend a death cafe. You can visit a progressive funeral director’s open day. You can listen to a podcast or watch a play. Or maybe you’d like help with more practical matters such as how to do an Advance Care Plan. Or you can just play the video below or visit Dying Matters which will signpost you to all sorts of resources and their social media platforms.
In Scotland, Demystifying Death Week is happening at the same time. Run by Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief, the week is all about ‘giving people knowledge, skills and opportunities to plan and support each other through death, dying, loss and care’.
sophieduffy 