PRESS RELEASE 
 

     We gather here today to recognize and examine our cultural practices as they pertain to the process of death and dying. As a society, we have a complicated relationship with death—struggling with the inevitable conflict between holding on and letting go. We are both terrified and obsessed. This terror and preoccupation are not to be observed in the way we consciously engage with our ultimate demise, but rather in our preoccupation with the amount of energy we spend on avoiding or evading the issues of death and dying. We are reactive with regard to the arrival of death, rather than consciously incorporating, through meaningful rituals, the reality and awareness of death into our daily lives. We act surprised, stunned when faced with the occurrence of loss and attempt to achieve some sense of control and closure by a one time ritual, such as a funeral commemoration. Additionally, we create symbols, shrines and objects to the memory of our loved ones, and our failure to incorporate the awareness and acceptance of death as fact into daily existence ultimately interferes with our ability to be more fully present to ourselves as well as others.