When adults don't explain death, children explain it to themselves.

And they rarely get it right.

They decide it was their fault. That it might be catching. That if they are very, very good, it won't happen again.

This week I'm joined by Dr Robin Goodman - psychologist, art therapist and one of the most respected voices in childhood grief and trauma - for a conversation about what children actually need from us when someone dies.

How they understand death at different ages. Why there is always an honest version. What to do when grief shows up as tantrums, or as suspiciously perfect behaviour. And why the parents who worry most about getting it wrong are usually the ones already getting it right.

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.