The art of dying is the art of living.

What becomes of our body when we die needn’t preoccupy us but we can ease the burden on loved ones by letting them know what to do with our corpse.

Dying is a series of destructive events that by its nature strips our humanity and obliterates our hopes for dying with dignity.

Dying doesn’t have to mean foreclosure or that our last days need to be congested by regrets, or unspoken words and unrequited feelings.

Some older people are waking up to their elderhood, but if the vanishing of our elders is any measure, it’s a rare epiphany.

People living with chronic or terminal conditions have a host of reasons for wanting to die before death claims them.

Competence is a highly valued quality in our culture. But our store of knowledge and well-honed competencies don’t serve us so well in human affairs or the messy business of dying.

People who have practical conversations with doctors about their preferences for their end-of-life care are more likely to die a ‘good death’ while sparing their families a lot of preventable heartache and distress.

Mindfulness means being aware of what’s happening in the present. It’s a way of coming home to ourselves that deepens our understanding and ends suffering.

Despite assurances from doctors who say they can mitigate the pain of disease and the decline of a failing body, nobody should plan on pain-free living or dying.