Make Friends With Death to Live a Better Life

The Art of Manliness

We live in a culture that does everything it can to keep death at a distance. We hide it behind hospital curtains, euphemize it in conversation, and hustle through grief like it's just another item on the to-do list. We don't want death to get in the way of living.

But my guest would say that making friends with death is the key to fully embracing life. Joanna Ebenstein is the founder of Morbid Anatomy, a project that uses exhibitions, lectures, and classes to explore how death intersects with history and culture. She's also the author of Memento Mori: The Art of Contemplating Death to Live a Better Life. Today on the show, Joanna shares why we lost a more intimate relationship with death and the life-stifling consequences of that disconnect. We discuss practices for coming to terms with death and removing our fear of it, including looking at memento mori art, meditating on death, talking to the dead, and simply taking care of the practicalities surrounding our inevitable departure.

Resources Related to the Podcast

• AoM Article: What Man Understands That He Is Dying Daily? (This Is Your Life)
• AoM Article: Memento Mori — Art to Help You Meditate on Death and Become a Better Man
• AoM Article: A Primer on Advance Directives
• AoM Article: How To Protect Your Legacy — A 3-Step Guide to Estate Planning
• Sunday Firesides: Look Into the Tomb
• Sunday Firesides: As I Am Now
• Victorian Memorial Hairwork
• The Dance of Death
• Vanitas art
• The Smell of Rain on Dust: Grief and Praise by Martín Prechtel
• Sleeping Beauty: Memorial Photography in America by Stanley B. Burns
• Death: A Graveside Companion by Joanna Ebenstein

Connect With Joanna Ebenstein

• Morbid Anatomy website
• Joanna's website

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