Journey Home

Journey Home

By Dan GaffneySociety & Culture
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Journey Home episodes

  • RITUALS OF THE BODY
    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.
    14 min
  • ARS MORIENDI
    Dying is a series of destructive events that by its nature strips our humanity and obliterates our hopes for dying with dignity.
    3 min
  • UNFINISHED BUSINESS
    Dying doesn’t have to mean foreclosure or that our last days need to be congested by regrets, or unspoken words and unrequited feelings.
    7 min
  • ORPHAN WISDOM
    Some older people are waking up to their elderhood, but if the vanishing of our elders is any measure, it’s a rare epiphany.
    22 min
  • EUTHANASIA
    People living with chronic or terminal conditions have a host of reasons for wanting to die before death claims them.
    15 min
  • COMPETENCE
    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.
    11 min
  • END OF LIFE DISCUSSIONS
    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.
    8 min
  • NO MUD NO LOTUS
    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.
    11 min
  • PAIN AND 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.
    7 min

About Journey Home

From the publisher's feed

Journey Home is a collection of essays about living and dying with an open heart. While many of us fear death and dying, these essays argue that embracing these events can help us reclaim a richness we’re denied in a death-phobic culture. What’s more, opening our hearts can help us celebrate the preciousness of life and craft a life-affirming legacy for our families and loved ones. This is the journey we are all called to.