My Journey
Becoming A Funeral & Life Celebrant
I've always been interested in people. Behind every human, is a story that is subjective and unique to them. Nobody else in the world sees things as you do, feels things as you feel them or impacts the world around them in your exact way. Our lives are beautiful, individual stories interwoven into the fabric of 'all there is'.
I came into the business of bereavement in 2009, when I began working as a funeral director for a small family business. Talk about being thrown in at the deep end. From a background in recruitment and sales to suddenly finding myself in an industry where my clients were facing 'real' problems, was somewhat of a shock to the system.
From being petrified at first, I soon found out that I had found my vocation, and for the first time in my life, I became passionate about my work. To serve the people who were entrusting me with their loved ones, I had to dig deep, and it became a cathartic journey of self-discovery and gratitude, fundamentally changing my whole outlook and attitude towards life.
I arranged and conducted over 1000 funerals as a Funeral Director, and the one thing that stood out was how little choice people had when it came to arranging a service of goodbye ceremony. In an increasingly secular society, I realised that bereaved families needed more choices about funeral services; which inspired me to become an Independent Funeral Celebrant.
Since 2014 I have been creating and delivering personalised ceremonies for bereaved families encompassing all ages and circumstances. I have been privileged to listen to hundreds of life stories and entrusted to write about them. Some have been enthralling, some have been simple, some extravagant and some peppered with tragedy. But with each person, I am always reminded that our lives are like a stone thrown into a pond. They send out concentric ripples that touch first those closest, but which continue to spread and reach so many others, changing so many lives in unexpected ways, long after the stone has disappeared beneath the surface of the waters.
Losing a loved one is one of the most traumatic life events we can experience, and we need all the support we can get to navigate our way through. It could be a bereavement, separation or even the loss of a job. Grief is grief, and it doesn't discriminate. In addition to my work as a Celebrant, I am also a qualified Reiki Master becoming a practitioner when I lost a significant person in my life. Reiki helped me cope and process this enormous loss, making life a little more bearable. I have since specialised in Grief Healing through Reiki and have worked with many people affected by a loss.I hope you have found my website helpful, but if you need any information or a simple chat to discuss your options, please get in touch.