Think Different

A bookshelf? Yes a bookshelf for children, a different way to see and live in the world. You can find more information here: Bookshelf Link (assuming you can read Italian).

We live in a changing world. Our role and purpose as funeral professionals has changed in relation to many people we serve.Those changes will only accellerate. So I look everywhere for inspiration, for differing points of view, non-traditional products and presentations, challenging websites like TomPeters.com, whatever it takes so that perhaps I can stay current and aware, so that I can indeed "stay in the game" for the long haul.

What has inspired you to grow and change in your funeral service work?  I would love to read your comments and ideas.

Thanks.

Comments

[Jacquie Taylor]

It isn't hard for me to stay inspired. I have the advantage of being a funeral service educator. I live in a world of people who are inspired to choose funeral service as their career. They want to make a difference. They want to help people through one of life's most difficult times. At the New England Institute, we offer free funerals to the unclaimed/unidentified dead. Our students, faculty, and staff attend even if there is nobody else who actually knows the deceased. All I have to do is observe the care and reverence exhibited by the NEI community as they go about the necessary preparations. Then I see the looks on the faces of the students as they direct and attend the ceremonies. They are visibly moved by the experience every time. These are moments they will take with them for the rest of their lives. And it sends us all back into the classroom with a renewed commitment to get the lessons right.

[Ginnie Teed]

Commitment to the family is commonplace in the funeral service professional. It is also commonplace in the organ and tissue donation professional. Recently, a funeral director in a very rural area of Maine was contacted by a funeral director representing the mother of a young girl who died in an MVA in the funeral director's rural area. Her body was in the rural funeral home. The mother desperately wanted her daughter to become a tissue donor. Once contacted by the funeral director in the mother's home area,the rural funeral director contacted our local organ and tissue recovery organization and made arrangements for this girl to become a donor. Already doing the "above and beyond", he then drove her body 200 miles to a hospital able to support the recovery. This funeral director did this without any fanfare and with the humblest of attitudes ... for him, it was all about the mother and the death of the daughter. At New England Organ Bank, we were all moved by his commitment and his "walk the walk" demonstration of that commitment. Between him and our clinical staff, we were all able to give this mother a positive memory in the tragic loss of her child.

[Jim Lynch]

Our local newspaper allows us to write a funeral report for free after the funeral service was held.

This has been a great educational tool since we includein the report when the service was held, who presided at the service, those who shared words of remembrance,graveside committal prayers were held,that military honors were held,our country's flag was presented to, the pallbearers were, a reception of fellowship was held following the services at...,and arrangements by...

This tool has shown to members of our community also that ceremony is just as honorable with cremation as with earth burial.

I think for too long when our profession emphasizes price, 895, 995, in advertisements the public tends to believe that price not honoring life is the most important aspect of what we do.

[Cindy Clark]

Reaching out to like minded professionals willing to go above and beyond for the families they serve not only inspires me when I work in a funeral home, but it allows me to bring extremely valuable learning experiences to the mortuary and bereavement students I teach. It is through these experiences that I am able to illustrate for students the power of ceremony and the value related to helping a family heal. As a group my students and I often role-play staying in the moment and being present with families. Each time we perform these types of exercises I learn something new and exciting not only about myself and relating to others, but also about the funeral industry and how to help families build traditions and get what they need from their funeral home experience. I am truly inspired by my colleagues, students and clients to find new ways to reach out to families and to continually expand my ideas about family centered care in the funeral service industry.

[Timothy Totten]

I'm constantly inspired by the things my readers and my customers ask me. I've started getting a lot more calls about the quilted cot covers we make (PLUG WARNING! www.cotcovers.com) from less "clued-in" funeral directors and owners. The early adopters were onboard last year, but now the questions are from people far less eager to switch away from the fake fur or hard corduroy-like fabric of the past.
Like you, I find a lot of inspiration by what I find on the internet and in the blogosphere. I'm constantly amazed by the pace of other business compared with funeral service. Sometimes I wonder how long it'll take this industry to discover the 20th century, let alone the 21st.

[lkfd]

There are honestly days when the sound of my pager makes me cringe and I have no idea where the strength to help one more family will come from. I often stay in bed for what in reality is only a few seconds, but seems like hours as I remember the night my own mother died and I was literally out of control until I heard the voice of my funeral director...the man I trusted to prepare my mother respond to my SOS. Recalling those memories, it's easy for me to generate the strength I need to quickly return the call and guarantee that I'm there to help in any way I can. Every funeral service professional, I'm certain draws their inspiration and motivation from numerous sources, but when I'm truly beating myself up or feeling like I could have done more, or different or better, I usually pull out Jamie Clark's OUTSTANDING motivational book "The Power of Passion...Achieving Your Own Everests". I had the pleasure of listening to and meeting Jamie at NFDA's Annual Convention in Chicago and he has changed my life in more ways than he knows.I actually plan to use this theme when I'm installed as President of the CT association in December since this book has certainly caused me to reflect on the service I give to families and I'd like to share it with other funeral service professionals.