We are Exit Strategy for Dying
We aim to refocus the narrative around death and grief through the lens of arts, culture, storytelling and innovation.
We aim to refocus the narrative around death and grief through the lens of arts, culture, storytelling and innovation.
Exit Strategy’s Art & Culture Monthly Reader is curated by Karen Bellone and Kirby Lee, death doulas at The Seventh Sense serving Hudson Valley, NY. Our intention is to refocus the narrative around death, dying and grief to raise awareness and consciousness, through the lens of arts, culture, storytelling and innovation.
Karen Bellone
Karen’s life-long journey as an artist and storyteller has inspired her unique approach as an INELDA Certified end-of-life Doula and Transitional Guide. An award-winning filmmaker & photographer, Karen has interwoven the intention within her artistic process to assist individuals in finding their way to a conscious and meaningful death. Her calling is to demystify and assuage the fear that surrounds death in our culture and to foster safe passage for the dying, as well as to aid the families and loved ones through anticipatory grief and bereavement. Karen studied film as an undergraduate at NYU, with graduate work at the Actors Studio at the New School. She acquired tools in these formative years that unlocked a deep passion for understanding the power of visual and auditory perception on human consciousness. Taking her lead from working with sensory stimulation, Karen incorporates visual, sound and meditation therapy, personalized guided imagery, and commemoration of the sacred in the form of legacy and memory work, in order to bring comfort -physically, emotionally and spiritually - and to celebrate and commemorate the life of the individual. Karen hopes to be an integral part of bringing back the wisdom of death into our modern lives.
Kirby Lee
Kirby Lee is a Certified End-of-Life Doula living in the Hudson Valley. She is a founding member of The Seventh Sense Organization. She was a part of the first ever Doula team in Mexico with the Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Foundation where she volunteered and trained for two years in a community death care model. She is currently a member of the Doula team with Hudson Valley Hospice and a volunteer at Kingston’s Circle Home for the Dying. She is certified with CareDoula® and has trained with The Center for Sacred Deathcare and Henry Fersko-Weiss. always provide. She is an advocate and witness, a companion and guide.
She worked as a manager for musicians for 15 years also as an advocate, companion and guide. She lived in New York City, Los Angeles, Nashville and London during that time spending much time on the road with her musicians where she learned a lot about holding space in high stress situations. She was passionate about working with artists who used their platforms to raise awareness and address social justice issues.
