Fear of Death (Paperback) | Released: 13 May 2013

What do all human beings have in common? Despite the self-help books about sex, money, power, happiness, weight, and relationships, there is one thing we all face that none of that guidance can prevent . . . death. What if we weren't so afraid of death, or of even talking about it? The fear of death - even when it's below our conscious awareness - underlies all fears. But, as Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and David Kessler remind us in Life Lessons . . . "Fear doesn't stop death; it stops life."What this book suggests is that exploring our fears about death - talking about it, learning about it - might allow us to live more fully now and to die more consciously, with less fear and less unfinished business. With thought-provoking quotes and a list of resources from the top contributors in the field, this book provides a supportive framework for us to begin and continue our inquiry. There are practices and tools we can use along the way. The author's informal style engages us easily in considering some of the most important questions about how we want to live and how we want to die. What "Fear of Death: It's About Life, Actually. Let's Talk About It" offers is an unusual opportunity to empower ourselves with regard to those questions and - perhaps - to help this conversation become a more natural part of our lives.
About the Author: Amy Wallace has wondered for years why nobody seems to want to talk about death. Seems to her that - since death is something we all have to face, and we never know when - maybe it would be useful to think about it ahead of time, you know, when we're a little more relaxed about it. Amy grew up in the Boston area and went to college there, but New England just never felt like home. In 1975, at the suggestion of a friend who had moved from the East coast to San Francisco, she packed her belongings into her Ford Pinto and drove across the country. She's lived happily in the San Francisco Bay area during most of the subsequent 35+ years. Working in the restaurant business and then in sales for many years, she thought she'd found her "calling" in the mid-1990's and started down a path towards a Marriage & Family Therapist License. After earning her Master's degree in Counseling Psychology from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology (now Sofia University), which is a very cool place to learn and grow, she worked as a therapist intern for almost 3 years before realizing it was not quite the right path. Thank goodness for those sales and transferable counseling skills! Recently, the idea that having a conversation about death might be one of the most important conversations (ever!) kept tickling at the back of Amy's mind. In fact, it got so tickly that one day - not so long ago - she decided to quit her good solid job in sales to work on this inquiry full-time. For her, this inquiry - and the book that has come out of it - has turned out to be a happy marriage of her soul's calling and her work and experience in the world of counseling and transpersonal psychology. She is grateful to have the opportunity to engage in something so personally meaningful and fulfilling. Amy hopes that you find this book about exploring our fears of death meaningful and empowering to you - in living both your life and your death.