“You only live once” — “YOLO” for short — leaves most people thinking about how to spend our time living. What about the other end, though? For 2014, Britain’s fifth annual Dying Matters Awareness Week is following the motto, “You only die once,” or “YODO” for short.
The “Before I Die Festival” in Yorkshire is featuring theater events, seminars, interactive exhibits and even picnics. Why so many events to increase awareness about a tragic event? James Norris, founder of DeadSocial, a startup which offers tools to manage social media accounts for the deceased, says, “We believe processing how you approach death is absolutely something everyone needs to do, even if you’re young and healthy.”
Those supporting Dying Matters Awareness Week agree that sorting out things like wills and deciding how you wish to leave the world are topics that need to be discussed while you’re still alive. Unfortunately, most people don’t want to talk about death or what comes after it for people left behind.
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A Pew Research Report finds that just over a quarter of all adults have not given significant thought to how they plan to handle the end of their lives. It is for this reason that Britain’s Dying Awareness Matters Week is so significant.
The Dying Matters Coalition found research carried out by ComRes which stated that less than 30 percent of people in Britain have expressed their funeral wishes. Going along with that, only six percent of Britain’s public wrote down those wishes or preferences about their care in the future if their ability to make decisions was ever compromised.
Claire Henry, Chief Executive of the Dying Matters Coalition and the National Council for Palliative Care, realizes that not talking about death is a huge problem. She says:
“Dying is one of life’s few certainties, but many of us appear to be avoiding discussing it or in denial altogether. Talking more openly about dying and planning ahead is in everyone’s interest, as it can help ensure we get our wishes met and make it easier for our loved ones. You only die once, which is why it’s so important to make your wishes known while there’s still time.”
Adding to that concern, Professor Mayur Lakhani, Chair of the Dying Matters Coalition and the National Council for Palliative Care and a practicing General Practitioner, says:
“Discussing dying is rarely easy, but unless we have the conversations that matter we’re unlikely to get the right care and support…What we need now is a national conversation about dying, so that healthcare professionals and the general public become more comfortable in discussing dying, death and bereavement. Dying matters, so let’s talk about it.”
The 30,000 members that make up the Dying Matters Coalition agree as well, that in order to have a happy and successful life, people must plan what will happen when they die. Maybe it’s time to expand the festival to the rest of the world to help everyone accept that it’s perfectly fine to talk about death. After all, you only die once.
