Funeral director discusses the end of life in TEDx Talk

Funeral director and founder of ‘modern’ funeral company Poetic Endings, Louise Winter, partnered with end of life doula Anna Lyons to create Life.Death.Whatever and recently held a TEDx Talk in Switzerland.

Life.Death.Whatever is an initiative which aims to “redesign” the conversation around death and dying through events and projects.

Speaking about “what really matters at the end of life”, the two also advised on how funeral directors could take note on the use of language and the importance of “well thought out” funerals.

They also touch on how society acknowledges and talks about death and the lack of conversation surrounding dying. They also discuss the use of euphemisms saying it “prevents true understanding” and add that using defeative language suggests someone didn’t “try hard enough to live” and can undermine their life.

A statement publicising the TEDx Talk read: “Louise and Anna explore how in facing death, we can live a better life. They will unwrap the important role that language plays in dealing with pain and acknowledging loss – a vocabulary our society has been missing – and inspired by the many people they’ve worked with, they will examine what it really means to show up right until the very end.”