We started Peacefully because we have seen the tasks required at the end of life overwhelm our families.

“We have the opportunity to refashion our conversations in ways that transform the possibilities for the last chapters of everyone’s life.”
— Atul Gawande

At Peacefully, we recognize the importance of autonomy and a sense of control at the end of life. Only 30 percent of Americans have talked to their family and friends about what they want their last days to be like, even though most believe it is an important conversation to have.

I Didn’t Want That, a short film produced by Dying Matters, was made to spark an interest in end of life planning and change the way people talk about death. Dying Matters aims to help create a way of thinking in which death and bereavement are seen as a natural part of life.

Having an open conversation about end of life planning is central to providing high-quality health care, legal guidance, and emotional support. Similarly to Five Wishes, a popular advance directive document we recommended in a previous blog post, the purpose of the Conversation Project is to “have every person’s wishes for end-of-life care expressed and respected”.

How do we want to be remembered? According to a recent study by Merrill Lynch and Age Wave, more than half of Americans say that they most want to be remembered for the memories they have shared with loved ones: the long dinners in good company, the experiences of new places together, and the moments of difficulty they overcame.

When someone we care about is experiencing the loss of a loved one, we, of course, want to do our best to be there for them. Although we want to help out in any way possible, we might feel lost when it comes to what exactly we should be doing. Perhaps we are afraid of saying the wrong thing, saying too little, or saying too much. It is frustrating seeing your loved one in pain and feeling like there is nothing you can do to make it better.

Have you been wondering how you will be able to move on after the death of a loved one? This is the wrong question, according to Kelley Lynn, a comedian who shared her experience with her husband’s death in a Ted Talk. Instead of moving on, she believes that we can learn to integrate the memory of a loved one into our daily life.

What do you want to do before you die? The Before I Die project has posed this question to thousands of people on over 4000 walls around the world.