Living Fully, Dying Well

I want to use this blog to explore what it takes to become fully human…and I am going to draw on my direct, personal and professional experience, past and present.
When did you first ask yourself the question about what it is to be human? Or what does it mean to be a good one? Why are we here? What is the meaning of all this? I think I asked myself versions of that question for most of my childhood years.
I remember being 12, walking with hundreds of schoolgirls towards Wembley Stadium to watch an international hockey match. Suddenly I felt being in the crowd in a completely different way: all moving as one, everything connected, belonging, necessary to the whole. At the same time, I could see each person as individual, as singular, separate and different as me. Astounding.
Every one of these unique beings experienced themselves as important and central to life as I did. Each person was on their own particular walk to Wembley. And we were all one thing, particles in a wave of experience.
So I was ‘off’ and my curiosity and love for life’s extremities and peculiarities was ignited.
Becoming human, I have learned, is not a given. It takes attention, dedication, care and love. It takes humility, resilience and courage. It takes being present. How often are you somewhere other than in your direct experience?
Becoming acceptable, becoming educated and socialized, becoming successful, an achiever, a contributor, a ‘looker’, ‘some-body’: all these and more get in the way.
If you are interested in the ways in which you are truly becoming human, join me. Let’s explore together.

What does a Celebrant Do?

A celebrant is a non-religious person who works with you to create an event, a celebration, to mark a particularly significant moment or transition in your life - or the life of a loved one.

Historically or traditionally, this position/role would be filled by a vicar, a priest, a rabbi, an imam or some other religious figure. We live now in a much more secular society. Many people have no religious affiliation. Some have strong spiritual beliefs that do not fit into those traditional categories. We are much more personal, more individual these days.

We want to mark the significant things that happen in our lives in more individual and personal ways. We have come to expect to have choice and we like it.

Asking me to work closely with you as your celebrant to organise an event - like a baby-naming ceremony, a hand-fasting, a wedding, a funeral, even a decision move abroad or the successful conclusion to a divorce - means you can choose what and how you want the event to take shape.

You can influence what happens so that the event truly reflects you, the person or people at its heart.