The Lost Art of Dying w Lydia Dugdale

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We all die, but most of us rarely think about it. After all, isn't life about living? Why would we want to dwell on the depressing details of dying? Sadly, this denial leads many of us to go our whole lives without appreciating the gifts of our life. After all, if we think we'll live forever, what is the value of a day? My guest today is Lydia Dugdale, a Columbia University physician who has attended the deaths of hundreds of humans. She regularly witnesses people dying ghastly, over-medicalized deaths in hospitals connected to life support and often subjected to "heroic measures" like painful experimental treatments and repeat-resuscitation... graphic examples of our modern inability to accept death and die well. Against this backdrop, Lydia found a body of forgotten knowledge, the Ars Morendi, the Art of Dying Well, that for centuries empowered normal people to prepare for their deaths - and live better lives in the process. This is not an episode about death, it is a conversation about the beauty of life that comes into clearer focus when we recover our sense of finitude, empower ourselves to step off the modern medical conveyor-belt, and invest our time and attention in the relationships that make our lives vibrant and full. Enjoy yourself. It's later than you think!