Death By Joy: An Escorted Journey

The true story of one woman’s choice to find joy in dying and her unforgettable discoveries along the way. DEATH BY JOY: An Escorted Journey explores dying from a perspective wildly at odds with Western society’s grim take on the subject. Today, grief and dying are so tightly twisted together that it seems unthinkable to use the words joy and death in the same sentence. Just how ingrained is grief? Here is a brief passage from the book: “As I write this there are hundreds of therapists in the closest major Canadian city who offer counselling for grief related to death, to help those who are dying or those with a family member, friend, or even pet who is dying or has died. There are thousands of publications on the subject of death and grief (13,868 under Amazon’s online book category Death & Grief); there are millions of web references (83 million for the words ‘death grief’ on one search engine). Death and grief seem inseparable.” How is it then that Mary, confronted with a damning diagnosis, could not only choose a joyful path to death, but stride with such carefree steps along it? That is the subject of the documentary film I recorded and produced. “This is an astonishing film which I think will set a precedent for the future on how to perceive and appreciate death.” – Dr. A-M. Ghadirian, professor emeritus at McGill University Faculty of Medicine, noted author, and psychiatrist And now in book form, I expand on Mary’s momentous journey, allowing for deeper insights into her joyful passage: to be read, pondered, reread, and digested as time and emotions permit. Set against an end-of-life scene driven by entrenched medical and commercial interests, DEATH BY JOY clearly illustrates an inspiring alternative—one in which family, friends, and palliative care providers share a joyful exploration of life’s closing chapter. Here is an opportunity to witness, as Holly Pruett, Life-Cycle CelebrantTM, wrote, “the possibility of death as we so rarely experience it today: death that is not feared but embraced for the deep healing, wild creativity, and engaged community it invites.”