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The birth and death of leaves is part of that greater cycle that moves among the stars ~Rabindrath Tagore

While enjoying the longest days of sunlight when everything is growing consider what you might want to plant and cultivate....

Thanatology is named for the Greek god of death, Thanatos, and refers to the study of death and dying. Almost 50 years ago, music thanatology was born, coinciding with the development of palliative medicine & hospice, and inspired by the monastic death practices of the monks of Cluny, France during the Middle Ages. The monks devotion to the care of the dying cultivated a deep awareness of how music, specifically of the harp, brings about a profound sense of comfort for body, mind and spirit, clearing the way for a life to pass.

You can read more about the profession here and listen to a podcast with a music thanatologist here.

Watch the trailer for an upcoming documentary about music thanatology, From Music into Silence, here.

So whatever’s the opposite of a Buddhist that’s what I am.
Kindhearted, yes, but knee deep in existential gloom

Skeletons by poet Deborah Landau is a brief & playful elegy to living fully while here, even as the inevitable surrounds us.

You can hear Skeletons read by the author here.

This recent brainpickings post explores the ineffable nature of loss & grief, and the relationship that binds them inextricably with love. It includes words of deep sensitivity & wisdom on living with loss and grief as a portal to aliveness from musician Nick Cave, who speaks from the experience of his teenage son's death 6 years ago.

This feeling… of alertness to the inner-spirit of things — this humming — comes from a hard-earned understanding of the impermanence of things and, indeed, our own impermanence.

You can read the entire brainpickings post here and you can find Nick Cave's full post here.

Once again Maria Popova at brainpickings highlights the important and ineffable things. In this case it is Joseph Pintauro and Norman Laliberte's 1970 treasure The Magic Box. It's comprised of short meditations on mortality accompanied by lively and perhaps somewhat irreverent graphics.

Popova excerpts multiple page images in her post of this book about ...life and death, the seasonality of being, and the beauty that springs from our impermanence.

You can find it here.

Bringing James Home is an inspired account of one family's quest to bury their youngest son's body at home. There was little convention to help them find their way to honor their grief in a manner that made sense for them. They found meaning and expression for their collective loss in their bond as a family together at home; honoring their son and brother through ritual, remembrance, and community.

As it turns out, they are still our children....They are still the tiny embodiments of our hopes and dreams. Living or dead makes no difference. They are still part of us.

You can read Catherine Ashe's moving account of her family's journey here.

Mildred Bailey was a Native American jazz singer known as the Queen of Swing in the 1930's. She mentored Bing Crosby early in his career and eventually had her own orchestra. Her songs charted at Number 1 three separate times.

You can listen to her powerful blues in As Long as You Live (You'll Be Dead if You Die) written by Johnny Mercer and Bernie Hanighan here, and the rehearsal take of the same song as included in the recent soundtrack for the movie Rumble: The Indians That Rocked the World here.

Toko Shinoda, who recently died at the age of 107, was considered one of the preeminent Japanese artists of the 20th century. She began a rigorous study of calligraphy at the age of six, later breaking the rules of that form once she mastered them.

She brought the forcefulness of Abstract Expressionism to the stillness of her childhood discipline resulting in paintings that appear to ...catch and hold something evanescent - as elusive as the memory of a pleasant scent or the movement of wind.

You can find her NY Times obituary here.

This article in Architectural Digest offers an overview of some of the most famous memorials in the world. The intersections of design and collective grief are varied and profound. Their presence offers an essential place to connect the past, present and future - maintaining memory and deepening the textures of our lives.

You can read the article here.

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