I am joined today by the hilarious and brilliantly creative sister duo that are Katy and Lindsey Vigurs, co-founders of Dead Good. We explore the intersection of creativity, joy, meaning making and death. 

Katy and Lindsey share their personal experiences with death & grief. Including anticipatory grief in their Dad’s final year as they listened to their Dad and came up with creative responses as a family - making it his best year. We also discuss the importance of community, conversation about death, and how creative rituals can help us to navigate our own mortality and talk about things that are taboo. 

Emphasising the need for open discussions about death, the role of humour, playfulness and joy in navigating death & grief, whilst not shying away from the pain of grief, and the importance of planning for the inevitable. 

Through their work, the Dead Good sisters aim to reawaken a connection with death and make the topic more accessible and less taboo. With practical guidance to help you to get important things in place like a will. 

Key takeaways

• Creativity can help us to connect with death and grief.
• Community support is vital in navigating grief.
• Humour and playfulness can coexist with grief.
• Creative rituals can make memories and meaning at the end of life for the person and their family.
• Anticipatory grief can be supported through creative expression.
• Conversations about death should be normalised.
• Making wills and legal preparations is essential.
• Coming together for parties to talk about death plans can be fun and empowering. 
• Death conversations fosters connection and breaks fear and taboo.
• Light and playful conversation can ease the fear of mortality.
• Death education can empower individuals to engage with their mortality.

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You can connect with Katy and Lindsey Vigurs and their Dead Good offerings here:

Website: https://www.deadgood.org

The Mortal Portal on Substack: https://deadgood.substack.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deadgoodlegacies

The theme music for Death on the Daily is ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Set Free by Katie Gray⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, which is used with artist's permission. 

You can connect with Katie and her music and work here ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.katiegray.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. 

This podcast is edited by David Strutt, who you can contact here for any editing needs: davidstrutt2@gmail.com

Chapters

00:00: Embracing Death: A Creative Perspective

02:45: Personal Journeys Through Grief

05:23: The Importance of Community in Death Conversations

08:15: Creative Rituals and Memory Making

11:08: Navigating Anticipatory Grief

13:46: The Role of Humor and Playfulness in Grief

16:24: Reawakening Our Connection with Death

19:06: Starting Conversations About Mortality

21:53: Creative Approaches to Death Education

24:49: The Power of Connection in Grief

27:24: Making Death Planning Accessible

30:21: The Importance of Wills and Legal Preparations

32:55: Transformative Experiences in Death Work

35:49: Visibility and Community Engagement in Death Conversations

38:34: Finding Joy in the Conversation About Death