B celebrated

Does how we live determine how we die?

2011-12-26T12:47:00.000-08:00

A year to live by Shilpa The past few weeks, I have been busy with family, friends and work. I did have a chance to head out to Mammoth for some R&R. The snow conditions were remarkable and I was miserable to say the least that I was not able to ski. I love to ski, it is one of my few passions and can’t wait to get my kids on the slopes. However, this ski trip was

A Year to Live - A Life In Review

2010-02-04T15:34:00.000-08:00

It is said that when facing a death many people see their life flash before their eyes. I decided not to wait to the end. Rather than a flash it was more of a feature film played out on the big screen of my imagination. I relaxed and let my mind float from one memory to another. I was felt such deep appreciation for the wonderful people in my life, the chance to live in three great cities and one

Creating A Paradigm Shift

2010-01-14T15:33:00.001-08:00

Today I was interviewed about Bcelebrated by Michael Rosenwald of the Washington Post. He wanted to know how we started, what we offer, and why we created it. He asked really intelligent questions. The one I liked best was, "Are you creating a paradigm shift around dying, or is there already a shift happening". My answer was "BOTH". We live in a very different world from our grandparents and

Are you ready to stop weighting?

2010-01-13T15:15:00.000-08:00

When we developed Bcelebrated it was with the intention to inspire people to live life more fully as we helped them prepare for death. To do that we run contests, host social experiments to enliven participants, and provide expert advice on issues that hold people back from living life to the fullest.At this time of year thousands of people start drastic diets and intense exercise regimes to lose

Shilpa's Year to Live - Week One

2010-01-07T20:18:00.000-08:00

You may recall my amazement when Shilpa, a pregnant young mother, joined a year to live. I promised I would get her to blog about her experience and here is her first installment.A year to live -- Week 1 Well, it’s week one and I have started to think about my year to live. So many thoughts and emotions cross my mind. I am at a loss of what to say and how to begin. In one

What is the RIGHT way to live?

2010-01-05T10:47:00.001-08:00

After offering this experiment of A Year To Live to others I started feeling fearful about leading a group of people through this deeply personal process. As I sat with the fear I realized that I was holding onto an outdated image of leadership. One that didn't resonate with me. My intention with this experiment was initially to do it for myself, and then offer others the opportunity to live it

2010-01-02T17:53:00.000-08:00

January 1st the A Year to Live experiment officially began. What a wonderful start to a year. Waking a little groggy from activities the night before, my husband and I did our usual morning walk along the ocean with our dog. The sky was bright, the air warm, and the ocean calm as a lone dolphin swam along the shore. None of this is uncommon, and I never take it for granted. I live with a deep

Living life like it's a basketball game.

2009-12-27T17:11:00.001-08:00

Seven years ago my husband stopped me while walking out of a bar to watch the last few seconds of a basketball game. While I didn't mind the delay, it seemed ridiculous to watch when the game had clearly been decided. (I knew NOTHING about basketball)There were less than 3 seconds on the clock. Lakers were down by two. Kobe got the ball and nailed a three pointer to win the game. From that moment

Is Fear of Death Really A Fear of Life?

2009-12-22T12:33:00.000-08:00

“For death begins with life's first breath. And life begins at touch of death” ~ John OxenhamAs people have signed up to join our experiment of A Year To Live, many have expressed a fear of dying. Some people have inquired about the experiment without committing, telling me they fear that if they commit to this they might bring death upon themselves. Others have asked me to change the name of the

Embracing the Cycle of Life and Death

2009-12-16T10:25:00.000-08:00

I'm continually amazed by who's joining the experiment A YEAR TO LIVE. We have everyone from CEOs to hospice workers, yoga teachers, health practitioners, funeral directors, and retired couples, ranging in age from 30 - 70, but the person who's actually shocked me is Shilpa. Shilpa is a 36 year old professional woman living in Los Angeles. She's a wife, daughter, sister, aunt, and mother to an 18

An Honest Dilemma about A YEAR TO LIVE

2009-12-08T09:49:00.001-08:00

I got an email last week from a woman who had a real dilemma about the invitation to live next year as if she only has A YEAR TO LIVE. She wrote that if she really had a year to live she'd want to visit all of her family across the country, followed by a round the world trip with her husband and dog. She would return home to visit all her friends and sit on back deck of her house enjoying a

A YEAR TO LIVE - a new type of leadership.

2009-11-30T11:21:00.000-08:00

I thought I was through the fear. When I first considered living next year as if I only have A YEAR TO LIVE, it scared me. It excited and inspired me, no doubt, but it also scared me. Would I be brave enough to make the choices that I would really make if it were my last year. How would it effect those around me. Would people think I was crazy. Should I tell people about it or not.The more I

Death and Dieting

2009-11-23T12:22:00.000-08:00

A few people have told me that A YEAR TO LIVE is too big a project. "Why a year?", "That's too long to commit", "People will drop out", "Try a day or a month" and other such comments have been voiced by concerned friends."Why a YEAR?" is a good question. Frankly it's the first thing that came to mind and it just felt right. (That's pretty much how I make all important decisions.) I really didn't

Forty Two days to go ... things are already happening.

2009-11-19T11:31:00.000-08:00

Its' 42 days until A YEAR TO LIVE begins, but already I'm getting "reports from the field" about what is happening for some people.I had lunch with Pam Maloney who said that since agreeing to live next year as if it's her last she's been more present to her own experience. In yoga class she thought, "what if this was my last class ever?". She didn't push herself to do the best yoga EVER. She

Things are stirring up with A YEAR TO LIVE

2009-11-19T10:19:00.000-08:00

When Margot recommended that I invite others to join me in my experiment to live next year as if it's my last I thought it was a great idea. I invited my family first. Then some close friends. Then I sent out an email invite to a larger group and even posted that invite on Facebook and Twitter.The response has been beyond what I could have imagined. I've been getting a wide and wonderful variety

Love knows not it's depths until separation

2009-11-13T10:37:00.000-08:00

My grandmother died three years ago. Last night I had a dream about her. It wasn't really about her, but she was in it. There was nothing spectacular about the dream. She didn't have any profound message for me from the other side. My family and I were just having a visit with lots of food and lively conversation. In the dream we were all aware that grandma was dead and so having her with us was

The Power of Decision-Making

2009-11-12T13:50:00.001-08:00

Since deciding, really deciding, to live next year as if it's my last, twelve people have already committed to doing this with me, and there's a buzz about what each of us might do differently.One thing we'll all be doing is creating a "bucket list". I hate that term so I hope we'll come up with a new one. Whatever we call it, we'll each create a list of the things we'd really like to do before

When the student is ready...

2009-11-11T14:11:00.000-08:00

When the student is ready the teacher arrives. In my case the teacher has come in the form of a book. As soon as I decided to live next year as if I only have A YEAR TO LIVE, I came across a book by Stephen Levine. For over twenty years Stephen and his wife Ondrea have worked gracefully, courageously and creatively to help thousands of people approach their own death with peace, honesty, and an

Live as if you're Going to Die. REALLY.

2009-11-10T13:20:00.000-08:00

I decided that I'm really going to do it. I'm going to live as if I'm going to die. I know that sounds ridiculous. We're all going to die, and we all know it. But isn't there a place inside you that denies you're ever going to die? Maybe that's because there's a part of us that isn't ever going to die. Maybe it's because we just don't want to think about the unknown. The unknown can be very

Live as if you're Going to Die.

2009-11-09T13:31:00.000-08:00

One of the goals of Bcelebrated is to help people experience life as if they are going to die. Yes, the site enables people to document their life story, create private messages for people they love, prepare a notification system for the time of their death and make their last wishes known, but none of those are our "raison d'etre".Our hope is that as people write about their lives, create

Lessons from my neglected garden.

2009-11-05T10:23:00.000-08:00

My friend Nina and I share a garden. Nina's crops thrive under her constant care, daily observations and gentle watering. My portion survives my constant neglect. I have no good excuse for not attending to the garden. I have to walk through it to get to my front door, so distance is not a factor. Partly my neglect is due to drought. Living in Southern California I feel guilty every time I water

Goofing Off is Good for You ... and Your Business

2009-10-09T11:16:00.000-07:00

Reading an article in Fast Company, Hard Work's Overrated- Maybe Detrimental, I found myself releasing a sigh of self acceptance. As a recovering workaholic I mostly feel like a big fat underachiever when I read biz mags. I compare myself to the 20 and 30 somethings setting the world on fire, working 100 hour weeks and living off the buzz of creating something new, plus a few gallons of Red

Is surrender an option in challenging times?

2009-10-08T14:04:00.000-07:00

There's no doubt that we are in a time of change, and change can be challenging. Most of us fear change when we are not creating it. So really it's probably more a matter of control. When things are changing around us we feel we've lost control. And that can be very scary.I'm someone who's really enjoyed control. When I run businesses I like making decisions and living or dying by them. I have

Life is just suppose to make you feel.

2009-10-08T09:09:00.000-07:00

"I don't believe that life is supposed to make you feel good, or make you feel miserable either. Life is just supposed to make you feel." - Gloria NaylorAs I showered yesterday I really enjoyed the feeling of the lather gliding over my body. It was a moment of simple pleasure. As I sat down to breakfast I purposely slowed myself down to really taste what I was eating. I loved hot buttery cereal

From losing a breast to climbing a mountain

2009-10-05T15:16:00.000-07:00

Bcelebrated is about celebrating life and leaving a legacy. When we talk about celebrating life, we don't just mean the sugary sweet stuff that comes wrapped in a pretty package. Life is tricky, and sometimes the best gifts of all come wrapped as tragedy, disease, and hardship. If we can embrace it all there is much to be learned from the challenges life throws us. October

Who are you living for?

2009-09-16T14:16:00.001-07:00

Hosting this contest to celebrate Grandparent's Day got me thinking : who I am living for? A few weeks ago M.J. Essenmacher told us how her children help her find the true meaning of happiness in her busy world of running a catering company. Ann Middleman shared the things she does with her grandkids that will create wonderful memories for them after she is gone. Both those stories, and those

Experiences worth remembering

2009-09-03T10:46:00.000-07:00

What do you remember about your grandparents? I only had one grandparent, Stella Aucoin. I remember the softness of her skin when she'd put her arms around me, the way her eyes crinkled when she laughed, the smell of apple pie and cleanliness in her house, and the way she patiently waiting for me as we descended the steps of the Toronto subway system. Memories fascinate me.

True meaning of happiness, as taught by our grandchildren

2009-09-02T13:43:00.000-07:00

This business gives me such JOY! Yesterday I was interviewed for a radio show called A Touch of Grey. Richard Neer, the interviewer, understood the concept of Bcelebrated as soon as I described it. He said, "it may be our own dysfunction but sometimes it's easier for us to record how we really feel about someone than it is to tell them. This site will be very therapeutic for some families as

Celebrating Grandparents

2009-08-13T18:08:00.001-07:00

September 13th is Grandparents day. Did you know that? I only discovered it a few months ago. How did this celebration escape me for all these years?Relationships with grandparents are really special. I only had one; my grandma, Stella Aucoin, pictured here. She died three years ago on November 2nd. My grandma has always been a big part of my life. My mother was a hard-working single mom. She

Goal Setting Sucks

2009-08-07T23:02:00.000-07:00

I've heard that we all need to have goals to attain success. I've heard that people who write their goals down are far more likely to achieve them. I have yet to hear any connection between goal-setting and happiness. I don't set goals. I didn't grow up in a "goal-setting family". A few years ago I got into goal setting, and if you know me you know that when I get into something I REALLY get

Making peace with my dinner

2009-07-20T19:55:00.000-07:00

After spending what felt like a lifetime birthing Bcelebrated, Mark and I were ready for a break. Though we live only a few blocks from the ocean in Santa Monica, which can feel like a permanent holiday most of the time, we really needed to get away. We found an ideal spot -Willow Witt Ranch. The website described this unlikely vacation spot as an historic sustainable ranch; a labor of love that

Ugly is Only Skin Deep

2009-07-12T12:58:00.001-07:00

My friend Nina and I share a garden. Yesterday we were both out in the sunshine harvesting some vegetables. "Oh no," Nina cried as she held out her hand with two tomatoes in it. I knew what she was thinking. They were the ugliest tomatoes you have ever seen. They were a brownish, greenish color. They were bumpy and lumpy and speckled. Gnarly looking little monsters. We aren't use to seeing our

Believing Is Seeing

2009-07-03T15:39:00.000-07:00

I was in Toronto visiting my friend Wendy. She was whipping up a delicious dinner, and getting to know my husband Mark in the kitchen, while her adorable daughter Amaya and I played with her big shiny ball in the backyard. Then came the moment when laughter turned to tears. Amaya had banged her hand on the fence when trying to retrieve the ball. She was about to go running for her mom when I told

Such strange timing...

2009-06-26T13:16:00.000-07:00

We finally did it. We launched our new service, www.bcelebrated.com a site which enables you to chronicle your life in a multi-media website that will become your on-line memorial site when you pass away. The site enables you to leave private messages for loved ones and will notify your community at the time of your death, inviting them to visit the memorial site.After all the thinking, planning,

Ordinary People do Extraordinary Things

2009-05-29T12:11:00.001-07:00

In a recent commencement address at the University of Portland, Paul Hawkin said, "What I see everywhere in the world are ordinary people willing to confront despair, power, and incalculable odds in order to restore some semblance of grace, justice, and beauty in this world." Part of our mission at Bcelebrated is to inspire people to do just that: use their ideas, talents and resources, however

Courage to Love

2009-05-25T17:31:00.001-07:00

I met my love when I was living in a small village in Mexico. One day the local vet asked me if I would take a dog for the summer. She was returning to the US for several months and needed someone to look after this stray she had been minding. I was reluctant. I had left everything I knew and loved and had moved to this small village to heal. I thought that healing meant just taking care of

Get to know your mother

2009-05-05T20:12:00.000-07:00

OK, I admit that I've got mother on the brain. Tis the season. My last posting was about writing a letter to your mom, saying all the things you'd want to say if you knew you were going to die, then exploring how the act of writing that letter might shift your relationship with her.Then I came across an article in REAL SIMPLE magazine that I thought was REAL GOOD. The more I read, the more I

A deeper connection with mom

2009-05-05T16:55:00.000-07:00

I don't know if it's just because Mother's Day is right around the corner but young moms seem to be coming out of the woodwork to tell us here at Bcelebrated how much they appreciate the chance to leave private pages for their kids. This was not something we had expected. We thought that the service would appeal mostly to boomers who were facing their own mortality, or helping their aging parents

How it all began...

2009-05-04T13:04:00.000-07:00

Dread gripped my stomach when I woke up that morning. After a glorious week in the small Mexican fishing village it was time to go home. Now, that might be enough for most people to get a sinking feeling, but it was more than that. Ominous clouds had rolled into the bay overnight. The wind was cold and the rain had started. Covered in garbage bags for raincoats, we waited on the dock for the tiny