What If We Didn't Have To Do Death Alone? - Crystal Meneses on Culture, Care, & Community

<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW29767397 BCX0"> What if we thought about death not as something that needs to be handed over to institutions, but as something that communities could face together? </div> <div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW29767397 BCX0"> In this episode we talk with Crystal Meneses, a death worker, spiritual counselor, hospice chaplain, artist, musician, and longtime community caregiver. Crystal's path into death work began with watching a recording of her grandfather's funeral in the Philippines, which sparked questions around being able to one day provide a similar ceremony for her father. Questions that inspired her work to help us rethink how we approach death and dying.<span class="EOP Selected SCXW29767397 BCX0" data-ccp-props= "{"134233117":false,"134233118":false,"201341983":0,"335551550":1,"335551620":1,"335559685":0,"335559737":0,"335559738":240,"335559739":240,"335559740":279}"> </div> <div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW29767397 BCX0"> Crystal and Jana explore the cultural differences in how death and grief are understood, including what Crystal has learned from her Filipino and Indigenous connections. They talk about the possibilities of caring for someone at home, tending to their body after death, creating rituals, and making intentional choices around end-of-life.<span class= "EOP Selected SCXW29767397 BCX0" data-ccp-props= "{"134233117":false,"134233118":false,"201341983":0,"335551550":1,"335551620":1,"335559685":0,"335559737":0,"335559738":240,"335559739":240,"335559740":279}"> </div> <div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW29767397 BCX0"> Crystal also shares what she's witnessed in the communities she serves - including elders, caregivers, young people, and people in prisons and other institutional settings - and the many ways grief goes unsupported. <span class="EOP Selected SCXW29767397 BCX0" data-ccp-props= "{"134233117":false,"134233118":false,"201341983":0,"335551550":1,"335551620":1,"335559685":0,"335559737":0,"335559738":240,"335559739":240,"335559740":279}"> </div> <div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW29767397 BCX0"> Throughout the conversation, Crystal returns to the importance of relationship: building networks of care, making room for different spiritual beliefs and identities, and practicing togetherness in a culture that often treats death as something to manage alone. </div> <div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW29767397 BCX0"> We Discuss: <ul> <li class="Paragraph SCXW29767397 BCX0" lang="EN-US" xml:lang= "EN-US">Crystal's two grandmothers and the different cultural relationships she experienced with death and grief </li> <li class="Paragraph SCXW29767397 BCX0" lang="EN-US" xml:lang= "EN-US">What it means to "bring death back into the hands of communities" </li> <li class="Paragraph SCXW29767397 BCX0" lang="EN-US" xml:lang= "EN-US">Crystal's own hopes for her end-of-life care & how she cares for herself in this work </li> <li class="Paragraph SCXW29767397 BCX0" lang="EN-US" xml:lang= "EN-US">Supporting children and teens through art and music when grief is difficult to put into words</li> <li class="Paragraph SCXW29767397 BCX0" lang="EN-US" xml:lang= "EN-US">Indigenous, multicultural, and multispiritual approaches to grief and death </li> <li class="Paragraph SCXW29767397 BCX0" lang="EN-US" xml:lang= "EN-US">The systemic barriers that make care and connection more difficult </li> </ul> </div> <div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW29767397 BCX0"> Crystal reminds us that there isn't one right way to grieve, to die, or to care for someone who is dying, and that we may have more choices than we've been taught to believe.<span class="EOP Selected SCXW29767397 BCX0" data-ccp-props= "{"134233117":false,"134233118":false,"201341983":0,"335551550":1,"335551620":1,"335559685":0,"335559737":0,"335559738":240,"335559739":240,"335559740":279}"> </div> <div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW29767397 BCX0"> Connect with Crystal on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/crystalakinsmeneses/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IG</a> - https://www.instagram.com/crystalakinsmeneses/ </div>

What If We Didn't Have To Do Death Alone? - Crystal Meneses on Culture, Care, & Community

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