For most of human history, ritual shaped the rhythm of our lives. It helped us mark beginnings and endings, honour milestones, and make sense of the changes that quietly reshaped us. Rituals rooted communities, offered language for moments beyond words, and created a shared understanding of what it means to move through life together. Somewhere along the way, many of us drifted from these practices - or were never taught how to create them in the first place. And yet, especially in grief and in moments of transition, we feel their absence.

In today’s episode, I’m joined by Megan Sheldon - cultural mythologist, humanist celebrant, end-of-life doula, and co-founder of Be Ceremonial, the world’s first guided ritual and ceremony app. Megan has created hundreds of ceremonies for people around the world, honouring what she calls the “seemingly invisible moments of change” - pregnancy loss, organ transplants, menopause, living funerals, death anniversaries, and so many others.

We talk about why ritual matters, how it supports us at the end of life and long before it, and how simple, intentional acts can help us meet grief with presence and meaning. Megan also shares insights from her work in North Vancouver, where she leads workshops, virtual courses, and retreats - and where, when she’s not crafting ceremonies, she’s swimming in the sea or wandering the rainforest with her husband Johan and their two daughters.

It’s an expansive, grounding conversation about remembering what we’ve forgotten - and reclaiming ritual as a human inheritance.

When was the last time you thought about your own death - not the medical decisions leading up to it, but the moment of death itself and what follows in the hours, days, and weeks afterward?

In this episode, we explore what happens after the last breath. We talk about after-death care, the options available to us, and why planning for this phase matters just as much as advance medical directives. Far from being morbid, these conversations can bring clarity, ease the burden on loved ones, and help us live with greater intention.

I’m joined once again by my friend Garrick Colwell, a certified grief educator, hospice volunteer, and co-founder of Kitchen Table Conversations, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering families to engage in meaningful end-of-life and advance-care planning discussions. Together, we unpack what after-death planning really means and how approaching it with care and openness can be a profound act of love.

What is the best way to show your love to the ones closest to you?

Now, if you have been following this podcast for a while, you know that I am not talking about romantic gestures here, we are not talking roses and gifts, romantic dates or surprises (even though we all love them obviously). No, I am talking about the end of life. And the best gift you can give your loved ones is a plan for the end of your life.

When death is near, the people around you are already carrying so much - fear, anticipatory grief, exhaustion, and love all tangled together. What end-of-life planning does is remove uncertainty. It spares them from having to guess. It frees them from making impossible decisions in moments of shock or crisis. It allows them to simply be with you - present, connected, loving - instead of overwhelmed by logistics and doubt.

Planning is not about control. It’s about care.

And here’s something I’ve learned through my work: what matters most to you about living is the clearest guide to what will matter most to you when you are dying. The way you define dignity, comfort, autonomy, faith, family, or legacy in life is the same language your dying will speak.

End-of-life planning is really an act of listening — listening to your own values, your fears, your hopes — and then translating those into clarity for the people you love.

In this episode, we’re going to talk about why planning ahead is not morbid, not pessimistic, and not giving up. It is one of the most profound expressions of love there is.