I have started a new sub-blog on death & dying. I cover the usual topics like grief, but this blog is more about my experiences as a hospice comfort caregiver. I discuss aspects of hospice care along with the learnings I acquire from the people I engage with and comfort at the end of their life. 

The first two articles are about my general experience as a hospice volunteer. I address why I, or anyone, might want to give back this way. In the second article, I explain how I find it possible to learn about living from the dying. I started with those two topics because I have encountered more than a few people with no fundamental understanding of hospice. Some people think participating in a person’s final days must be depressing. Few people immediately see the benefits to patients and caregivers. 

The rest of the articles will cover what I learn from specific patients and as a comfort caregiver. I also cover aspects of hospice and the mindset and tools that other caregivers and I develop over time as we sit with more and more patients. Topics such as presence, the power of silence, and acceptance will be covered. There are many patients and many aspects of this work. I have enough material for dozens of articles.

I hope that this new blog sheds light on my hospice work, why it is crucial, and what I glean from my interactions with people who have only months or even weeks or days to live. We learn from all our life experiences, but I find that there is something about being with a person on their final journey that lends itself to lessons on life for the living. 

The link to the blog is: https://www.mjmwanderings.com/death-dying

The main menu also has a link to the blog.

The imagery I have chosen to include is unique in that it is all original work created by an AI in response to text prompts I provide. The website is https://labs.openai.com/, and I recommend checking it out. It is fun to play with, and the art it produces is, at the least, intriguing when you consider that this is original work created by a computer program.

I hope you enjoy this new blog and that you learn something from my sharing.