what is mere mortals?
A powerful gift to the people we love.
A brave gift to ourselves.
Mere Mortals is a free and accessible tool that helps us to be more pro-active about preparing for death. This honors ourselves and also the people that we love who want to do their best to respect our wishes. We are all going to die. Some of us know it's coming soon and others of us may die suddenly. In a culture that's not the best about honest conversations about death, Mere Mortals is a way to just be honest about what you want and don't want when you die. And it’s done in a narrative format that adds a much more personal document to needed wills or advanced medical directives. It is a downloadable template to adapt in any way you need, along with 3 simple videos that offer more guidance to consider. The goal--anyone can create a Mere Mortals template for family and friends.
3 Accessible videos - CLICK TO WATCH
#1 - talking about
death - 13 minutes
Talking about death and why it matters to do this work while we are able to on behalf of ourselves and the people we love
#2 - The mere mortals Template - 30 minutes
A simple adaptable tool to share what we want (and don't want) in a personal narrative that helps people navigating details after death.
#3 - we have
options - 30 minutes
Learn more about options beyond traditional burial or fire cremation as well as dying with dignity options that are available in some states.
The mere mortals template
This simple template is available in Google Drive to copy and adapt in any way you need. It's not a legal document. It's not a will or an advanced medical directive. It is what you want when you die so that the people in your life won't have to guess. Some questions won't apply--delete them. Add what might be missing. Use it in whatever works for you. The most important thing is--do it, put it somewhere safe and accessible for your people and update it if something changes. It can be a working document.
Yes, I'd love to learn more about hosting a Mere Mortals workshop
host a mere mortals workshop in person or virtually
For small groups, organizations, families, faith communities, friends,
We're glad to make this material accessible virtually for anyone who wants to access it, but we also know that it helps so much to be with other people learning, and considering together. We're always up for coming out for a Mere Mortals: Life and Death Considerations Workshop for your group of any size or hosting something virtually to walk through the basics in real-time.
About us
Kathy Escobar
Community Cultivator & Co-Founder of The Refuge and #communityheals
Learn More
Jo Douglas
Soul Care Coach & Founder of Mindful Member Care
Becky Davis
Advanced Planning Consultant for TheNaturalFuneral.com
additional resources
FIVE WISHES
This simple format for an advanced medical directive that is legally binding in most states and doesn't require a notorized signature
being mortal
An excellent read centered on end-of-life considerations, aging, medical treatment, and more.
simple wills
For people who don't have complicated assets, these inexpensive templates don't require a lawyerr
ECO-FRIENDLY POST-DEATH OPTIONS
Find out what options are out there, even if they aren’t available in your state.
in case you were wondering, All our materials are free!
Our heart is to make conversations about death a more natural part of our culture. This project is a labor of love, but if you'd like to support our work at The Refuge--a hub for healing community, social action, and creative collaboration in Broomfield, Colorado and where we hosted our first Mere Mortals Life and Death Considerations Workshop in 2022--feel free to make a donation of any amount. The Refuge is a non-profit 501c3 organization and all contributions are tax-deductible.
“No matter how it looks,
you and everyone you know
have hourglass figures.
Each breath, a falling
grain of sand.
To truly live is to see
right through the skin.
to the avalanche.
If we never deny the inevitable end
of the story,
we will write it
more beautiful
while we’re alive.”
~ Andrea Gibson
