Wendy’s voice is full of love and laughter, honest and deep, daring to go to places many others avoid. Her voice shares the beauty in nature, people and life in all its imperfection and purity. Her intelligence, wisdom and kindness are revealed with her words, a joy to those blessed to read or hear them. Dr Georgina Gibson
Image: Doris Zagdanski and Wendy Haynes
Community Conversations about Living and Dying
As part of our final session, Wisdom and Wonder, from the program, Finding Peace in Aging, that Jeff Joslin and myself hosted online, I invited participants to contribute an offering towards a closing blessing. Here it is… the wisdom and the wonder. May you have deep and continued connection in…
Read BlogWhy did you do this to me can be one of the most painful questions in a relationship. Years ago, the first couple who came to me asking for a divorce ceremony brought with them a vow from a book by Hans Jellouschek, a therapist who had spent decades working…
Read BlogA dedicated group of celebrants gathered online to workshop Divorce and Uncoupling Ceremonies. For the close, I invited everyone to put forward a line for a blessing that may be offered at the close of a divorce or uncoupling ceremony and I offer it here as a compilation. May you…
Read BlogOver the coming weeks, I’ll share my journey with my dad and his dying and his ceremony. For now, I’ll share this moving rendition of Psalm 23 and the introduction to this song in his ‘falling off the perch’ ceremony. “Mum and Dad attended St Johns Anglican Church for a…
Read BlogLast month, in our second Finding Peace in Aging session, Jeff and I sat with people from around the world as they shared stories of aging: identity shifts, uncertainty, grief, loss, and also moments of joy. What unfolded was a space where people felt safe, heard, and deeply connected. Together,…
Read BlogMy dad, David, died peacefully at home here in Emerald Beach on Easter Sunday. As his 90-year-old body finally caught up with him, he was ready, in his words, to “drop off the perch.” There were so many people who helped him stay safe, connected, and able to enjoy this…
Read BlogOnline Workshop for Celebrants and those wanting to plan their own divorce or conscious uncoupling ceremony. Hosted by The Celebrant School, Te Wananga Korowai Aroha (New Zealand) When a couple marry, ceremony gathers community to witness and honour the joining of two lives. But when a relationship ends, there is…
Read BlogEarlier this week a celebrant reached out to me after being asked to conduct a short funeral ceremony for a family whose baby was stillborn, while the twin survived. She shared that she had never conducted a ceremony for a stillborn or infant before and felt deeply aware of how…
Read BlogA friend was wanting to help his mum record some of her life stories and asked me what questions I asked when helping people write a memoir or write their own eulogy. Over these last few years I have been helping an elderly friend write her memoir. I found the…
Read BlogAging is happening to me not as a problem to solve, but as a lived, unfolding conversation, one I am learning to meet with kindness. There are lots of things to celebrate and a few things to mourn. My Ongo colleague, Jeff Joslin, and I will guide an online gathering…
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