We couldn’t fit everyone in, the seats were filled, the floor was sat upon & the stairs crammed & St over flowed… Something that has stood out this past month as we rode the tranquil waters & whirlpools with many…it was summed up beautifully by a loving mother yesterday with her daughter beside her as we began planning a ceremony for her husband & father who is nearing…. ‘I don’t think he realises/knows how loved he is & by how many’… Do any of us? Like this ceremony pictured, we knew a lot would come but not quite this many, it was quite something looking out into this sea of broken wide open hearts… 🖤 #deathbecomesus #brokenopen #suddendeath #love Pic @daisy2sox

💀 Day of the Dead 💀 Between the full belly laughs & endless sea of tears we share together, life with these wildcats deathing is quite something 🤍 …if anyone can work out what I say in the video, there is a trick or a treat… Love Halie, Betty, Jen & Breeze 🖤

What a life, what a love, what a dance & what a let go… The quiet stillness before everyone arrives for ceremony… 🤍

Sitting in Melbourne airport as the hustle of us humans all weave around catching flights… Is it me or is it insane that we place ourselves in tin cans that fly through the sky at pressures our bodies are not designed to withstand - speed, we all rushing where? Back to the place we came from? The names being called out as planes wait for them to make the door closure, the woman down from us watching a You Tube on how to online date in your 50s & 60s, the young lady on my left dressed in the finest designer threads waving to an invisible person in front of her giggling like a child, all as I sit here tapping these letters throwing a little lasso of communing with you…I look around often in big crowds & wonder how many of these people have sat down & prepared for when their final exhale becomes air?… Be interesting to do the statistics on all of you reading this now, it usually boils down to the 80/20 rule…only 20% of you are ready to roll/dance in into the mystery… This past week we had something happen that statistically probably won’t happen that many times, out of 6 deaths we tended 2 of them the next of kin’s died suddenly…we were wondering why the messages went blank & calls unanswered, then their next of kin’s called for us to tend to them…sudden deaths geez they pack a particular wallop…because not only are we here then moments later gone, sudden deaths usually end up coronial which means being suspended in time waiting for their body to return & what was the cause of death if not from obvious reasons… So needless to say this week is going to be a massive one & all I feel to say is like I have probably hundreds of times now on here is to treat each day/moment as it could be your last, slow down smelling the roses & get real with who, what & how deeply you desire to fully live…everyone seems to be chasing something as if we are immortal…maybe our spirit/soul is but these bodies we cruise around in, they are actually very strong yet they have an expiry date…& we don’t know what that stamp date is…🤍 Pic via @pamelapaulineart Flannel love x

Another date to save in November, last years was something quite special…between Zen carving community hearts for decades now guiding the way & when the choir sung Hymn to Her & we all swam in a sea of salty love…for many of us we have played under these fig trees for lifetimes… #dayofthedead #mullum #deathcare

Little image of space holding us…those who know me know how I cringe at the space holding language… The pen/keyboard prodding has finally stirred, after traversing some tricky waters, peoples, players & peculiar ports, the old demonised submarine has officially sunk well below the drop off zone, it’s been wild storms of the heart round here with so much going on in everyone’s lives in really big ways…I’m still surfacing from the travel, time away & a retreat I have just been on to what feels like whole new world of chaos & calm in equal measure…from the deaths we tend daily to the postman falling off his bike at the front door this evening telling me his death wishes as he lay there freaked out he just flipped a postie bike at the doorway of a funeral home!…to the snake curled on the burial frame that did not want to let go of the warm wood, to the family today that drove their person in their camper as the hearse to cremation, to the lovely lady who just called asking for us to come for a roast dinner & then wrap her husband of 65 years up to bring into our care as he passed at home at lunch time, so she got baking because he loved her roasts & filling our bellies before we tend to him is her request 🩷…I was just about to walk over to watch the sunset from behind Paperbark, we have epic views up on this little ridge-line, it’s a daily practice I’m/we are doing our best to sit & watch each evening as that big star rolls off the side of the planet as night falls…reflecting on each day, they are so full, rich & flowering right now…full spectrum of death, life & love are bountiful 🐿️ spring really is here✨✨✨🐌… Pic - not sure, if you do know this artist please let me know so I can add them… This song, up real loud on the d floor is quite something to behold… #spaceholding for #squirrels

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Paperbark Deathcare & Funeral Home Acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Bundjalung Nation. We pay deep respect to Elders past, present & emerging. We celebrate the stories, culture & traditions of First Nations & Torres Strait Islander Elders of all communities who also work and live on this land, and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters & culture.

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