Death

“Nope, nope, nope.” That’s precisely what I thought when I was assigned to write my own eulogy. “Oh God, I can’t do this! Isn’t it illegal to write your own eulogy?!?” Rest assured it’s 100% legal to write your own eulogy, and yes, you can do it. The only thing we know for certain, even more certainly than taxes, is death. Westerners, especially Americans like me, do our best not to pay any attention to this most eternal of truths. The irony is that by staying in contact with death, you can live each day much more alive.

Like all these exercises, the concept is very simple and open to interpretation. Write your eulogy. Do it however you like. It’s your (final) party and you can do what you want to. This is fictional, so you don’t even have to do any cat herding to get logistics sorted out, so dream every bit as large as you like.

What goes in a eulogy. Who are you? Sure, what you did is good to write about, but a eulogy isn’t a performance review, so don’t treat it like one. What do you want to be celebrated for being? What values do you want to embody in your life?

Who is there at your memorial? Where is it? What else happens? Does anyone sing a song, read a poem, do their own reading?

Do it right now. Don’t wait, it won’t be as bad as you think. (hugs)"