About this episode

Dre and Olivia Bareham discuss the lessons of death and grief, emphasizing the importance of presence and care in the face of loss.

In this episode, Dre sits down with death midwife, interfaith minister, mystic, and founder of Sacred Crossings, Olivia Bareham, for a conversation about death, grief, presence, and what it truly means to care for one another. What began for Olivia during the AIDS crisis eventually became a lifelong devotion to helping people move through death with honesty, tenderness, dignity, and love. Together, they explore what our death-phobic culture avoids and what becomes possible when we stop looking away and remember we know how to be with death. They talk about being present at the bedside of the dying, home funerals, conscious grieving, staying connected to loved ones who have passed, and why death may be one of our greatest teachers. This conversation is open, grounding, unexpectedly life-affirming, and filled with wisdom about how to live with more presence now rather than with regrets at the end. Dre also shares her own experience currently training with Olivia in death doula work — and how this path is changing the way she understands grief, community, and the sacredness of being human. If you've ever lost someone, feared loss, avoided grief, or wondered how to better show up for…

People in this episode

Host: Dre

Guest: Olivia Bareham

Topics covered

• death
• grief
• presence
• home funerals
• conscious grieving
• community
• sacredness of being human

Keywords

• death midwife
• grief
• AIDS crisis
• home funerals
• conscious grieving
• sacredness
• community
• loss
• wisdom
• presence

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Sacred Crossings

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