Life, Death, Grief and the Possibility of Pleasure (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780578372471)

Oceana Sawyer shows how it is possible to elevate many of our life events - including death and grief - to a richer, more meaningful level. She reveals how accessing pleasure is the key, and how it requires just a small bit of effort.

Oceana Sawyer will take you through a step-by-step exploration of what constitutes pleasure and how to access it. She goes on to give simple practical guidelines for how to apply that information to the challenging experiences of death and grief. Through stories and examples, the reader will be shown how easy it can be to uplift the human experience of dying and grieving into a more expansive space that allows for greater depth and a richer journey through life all the way to the end and beyond. Most importantly, the author describes the purpose and benefits of pursuing a path of pleasure in any phase of life.

The reader's journey will also be enhanced by supplemental sensory practices as described by a variety of noted end-of-life contributors including Melanie DeMore (song at vigils), Naila Francis (poetry and movement for grief), Roshni Kavate (comfort from food and ritual) and Ash Canty (grief and the sixth sense).

Most importantly, the author describes the purpose and benefits of pursuing a path of pleasure in any phase of life. Through specific exercises, the reader will experience directly how the application of a sensual lens to even the most ordinary situation can have benefits in terms of ease and generativity.

In addition, there are several sidebar descriptions from a variety of contributors regarding practical tools addressing each of the senses that can be utilized (with permission, of course) to take a life experience from mundane to extraordinary.