The secret of life is balance, and the absence of balance is life’s destruction – Hazrat Khan
Every year, in May, Dying Matters holds an Awareness Week. Dying Matters is a coalition of organisations across England and Wales, run by Hospice UK, whose aim is to open up conversations about death and dying, and to help people make plans for their end of life. This year’s topic is Dying to be Heard, Continue reading
We’ve been in lockdown for 7 weeks and are due an update today. Realities of my lockdown: 7 weeks without hugging my beautiful grandson or my children 7 weeks without visiting my 90-year-old mother 7 weeks without laughing in the same room as my sister, my stepmum, my friends 7 weeks of being shunned by Continue reading
Dear Mr Johnson You have recently faced death, and yet survived. I’m so glad you did, and I’m sure it has changed your perspective on life. The human population is also facing death, not by Coronavirus, but through our own folly and destruction of our habitat. Coronavirus has brought us a pause, a time to Continue reading
In the midst of reports during our current world pandemic, one phrase regularly appears – people die either with or without “underlying medical conditions.” The vast majority seem to die with them, and it is a mystery when seemingly healthy people contract Covid-19 and die. The science cannot explain why. It leaves people feeling open Continue reading
We are living in unprecedented times. Never in my lifetime did I expect to witness what we are now going through. I speak as a citizen of a democratic country with the gift of free speech. Anything expressed in this blog post is merely my opinion. I’m trying to collect my thoughts and feelings in Continue reading
Dear Ones It’s a stunning, perfect, blue skies Spring day, and almost impossible to believe that the world has changed so drastically in the space of a few weeks. Every one of us is facing new daily challenges in the face of the appearance of Coronavirus, and our lives are becoming ever more shut down Continue reading
I don’t have any answers, nor it seems do our world leaders. As President Donald Trump, the climate change denier, now calls coronavirus the latest Democrat hoax, and PM Boris Johnson deems it fitting to bring a fifth child into the world, our poor planet is rebelling against our collective treatment of it. I repeat, Continue reading
I have been a devoted follower of Call the Midwife since it first appeared in 2012. As a former nurse myself, so many of the stories resonated deeply, though admittedly my training was in the 70’s, so things had changed a little by then. The issue of dying well was not part of my training Continue reading
We are living in a death-denying society. In simple terms, few people consider their own deaths. Death is seen as something we don’t talk about and we hope fervently it will never happen, either to ourselves or to people we love. We use our medical profession as “saviours” turning to them, with complete disregard to Continue reading
It’s a while since I’ve written. The world has begun to feel like a different place. It seems that the trajectory on which humanity has placed itself is one of utter disregard for any species other than that of Homo Sapiens. The irony does not escape me that the translation of those Latin words to Continue reading