Blog rally: Engage With Grace
As we head into the Thanksgiving holiday, those of us at Greystone.Net have run out of fingers and toes on which to count the things we are thankful for. The many clients and friends with whom we have thoroughly enjoyed working are more than we can count. We also have many things to be thankful for individually, not the least of which are the many loved ones we hope to surround ourselves with, or at least think a lot about, this holiday season.
That’s why we’re joining a blog rally (see below for definition), simultaneously posting to encourage conversation about a topic that’s often avoided but needs to be addressed in every family: How we want to die. (Thanks to Paul Levy and his “Running a Hospital” blog, one of our favorites.)
We make choices throughout our lives – where we want to live, what types of activities will fill our days, with whom we spend our time. These choices are often a balance between our desires and our means, but at the end of the day, they are decisions made with intent. But when it comes to how we want to be treated at the end our lives, often we don’t express our intent or tell our loved ones about it.
This has real consequences. 73% of Americans would prefer to die at home, but up to 50% die in hospital. More than 80% of Californians say their loved ones “know exactly” or have a “good idea” of what their wishes would be if they were in a persistent coma, but only 50% say they’ve talked to them about their preferences.
Engage With Grace: The One Slide Project was designed with one simple goal: to help get the conversation about end of life experience started. The idea is simple: Create a tool to help get people talking. One slide, with just five questions on it. Five questions designed to help get us talking with each other, with our loved ones, about our preferences. And we’re asking people to share this, wherever and whenever they can…at a presentation, at dinner, at their book club. Just one slide, just five questions.
Let’s start a global discussion that, until now, most of us haven’t had. Let’s start a viral movement driven by the change we as individuals can effect, and the incredibly positive impact we could have collectively. Help ensure that all of us – and the people we care for – can end our lives in the same purposeful way we live them.
* “Blog rally” is the simultaneous presentation of identical or similar material on numerous blogs, for the purpose of engaging large numbers of readers and/or persuading them to adopt a certain position or take a certain action. The simultaneous nature of a blog rally creates the ironic result of joining the efforts of otherwise independent bloggers for an agreed-upon purpose. This particular blog rally also has a parallel component on Facebook, where many people are donating their status to bring attention to Engage with Grace.