Welcome to Room for Dying

Hello!

I’m so glad you’re here. Below is a little bit about why I created Room for Dying. If I can answer any questions, please peek at the FAQ and don’t hesitate to contact me.

Yours in wonder,
Michelle

My Journey with Death Acceptance

In 2015 I wrote my first obituary. It was part of an art workshop assignment designed to help participants find clarity within their studio practices. Resistant to such elaborate promises, I gave it a half-hearted attempt and soon forgot about it.

I wrote my second obituary in 2021. That very real death was so painfully suffused with denial that even the experts could barely whisper their wisdom. Over many sleepless nights, I wondered: How did an utterly natural part of life become so taboo?

Three more family members would die that year. Feeling unmoored, I remember my inability to navigate all that was unfolding. Still, writing my father’s obituary became both a buoy and a healing balm.

To enhance my inquiry, in 2023 I completed intensive 40-hour End-of-Life Doula training. In small breakout groups we asked big questions and gave each other the space to sit with silence, uncertainty, grief, and fear. It was powerful.

The next time I completed my own obituary exercise, I set an intention to remain open and curious. My reflections flowed more easily and a deepening awareness began to surface.

Over time, a delightful flash of insight took hold: as I welcomed mortality into my life – as I made room for dying – the true gifts of the obituary exercise were unlocked.

What surprised me most was not how much thinking about death changed my relationship to dying, but how much it changed my relationship to living.

Over time, that inquiry expanded beyond mortality alone. I became increasingly interested in the ways awareness of impermanence shapes how we relate to time, work, care, ambition, embodiment, grief and one another.

Wise Mortal grew from that widening inquiry.

Room for Dying remains an important part of this work — a space for more direct engagement with mortality and death awareness — while Wise Mortal has become the broader practice holding these conversations alongside reflection, embodiment and intentional living.

I’ve seen how death avoidance can bruise relationships, complicate grief, disrupt business operations and financially break families seeking just a little more time. I doubt there is any one right answer for everyone. But I do believe that respectful, courageous conversations are part of the untangling.