The legendary Seattle rain. It was a thin gray rain; hard and fast and cold. In it, we had to walk four blocks from the Public Safety Building to the Zillers’ Jeep—we were at its mercy. As was my custom in such elements I hunkered against the rain, drew my head into my collar, turned … Read more“I let it do to me what it would”
Suicidal seventeen year old media whiz Archie Williams (played by Gabriel Sunday) visits poet/filmmaker Jesse Gabriel Vargas (David Carradine) in this scene from the 2011 movie Archie’s Final Project, also known as My Suicide. Which self do you want to kill? It would be a shame to off all of them.
Yesterday, petals fell in tribute to Robert Bly, whose life’s work came to an end on Sunday, November the 21st, 2021. During the 1980s, ’90s and early 2000s I dipped in and out of the oft-misunderstood “Mythopoetic Men’s Movement”, which drew much inspiration from Bly’s teachings; first via word of mouth emerging from his countercultural … Read moreRest in Peace, Robert Bly: Poet, Anti-War Activist, Author and Founder of the Mythopoetic Men’s Movement Dies at Age 94
Daniel Lev Shkolnik interviews existential coach Yannick Jacob on how to apply this 20th century philosophy in a practical way to help us find a greater sense of meaning and purpose in our lives.
When a baby is born, we celebrate a new life in the world and its potential; when a person dies, rather than mourning the loss of an impossible continued potential, we can mourn their death and then celebrate the life that they lived. A bell cannot be un-rung. That, of course, casts primacy on the … Read moreFirst, cry because it’s over; then, smile because it happened
Artist Jill Littlewood hosts the October 2021 Memoria Symposium, a conversation between artists innovating in the sphere of memorial and memento mori ritual. Participants include: Nadia Hagen-Onuktav, artistic director of the All Souls Procession in Tucson, Arizona To-Ree-Nee Wolf, director of the All Souls Procession Urn Spirit Group Harley Dubois, Co-Founder of Burning Man John … Read moreOctober 2021 Memoria Symposium: An Open Discussion on Artistic Innovation in Death-Positive Ritual
The Memoria symposium – an open discussion among death-positive artists innovating in the sphere of memorial and memento mori ritual – has now been set and scheduled. Our panelists will include: Existential coach Daniel Lev Shkolnik Burning Man co-founder Harley Dubois Way of Life and Death director/teacher Tony Wolf All Souls Procession artistic director Nadia … Read moreMemoria Symposium Update
Philosophical perspective courtesy of Floris Tomasini: The notion that death should be “nothing to us”, as Epicurus puts it, is difficult to reconcile with desires that give meaning to our lives beyond our sense of self-satisfaction. That the meaningfulness of life extends beyond death is testified by our transcendent interests or desires. Or, as Belliotti … Read more“Annihilation and the Meaningfulness of Life Beyond Death”