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Making Death Plans, Petting Bunnies

November 7, 2019 Suzie Sherman podcast 01:30:36
https://nextthingpodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Making-Death-Plans-Petting-Bunnies.mp3

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Nannette Mickle’s work life is a surprising and diverse series of next-things. She’s been a candy and cigarette girl, she’s worked in social services providing housing opportunities for unhoused folks. Back in the 90s, she once understudied as Bobby Brady in a notorious live show directed by Jill Soloway. And these days, she sits bedside with dying people, and helps her clients create self-actualized death plans. I wanted to talk with Nannette, because she embraces new work opportunities in her life with so much curiosity and joy, and makes plans to move on if the work fails to compel her. As a bit of a malcontent in my own work life, this conversation was a real salve.

Nannette Mickle is a joyful death doula who embraces mortality as a way to fully experience life. An enthusiastic ballet aficionado and irreverent forever-goth, Nannette dreams of ways to help others navigate towards a more self-guided and actualized end-of-life.  Traveling, petting small animals, and sitting bedside with hospice patients are just a few “musts” in her life. Curious about making a death plan? Check out Nannette’s website at welcomedeath.com.

Major themes: 

Becoming a death doula; David Bowie’s death; meditation; our cultural denial of and glorification of death; non-linear career paths; the Real Live Brady Bunch, “exercising yes,” or “practicing yes;” when you end up dating your housemate; making lifelong friends and community from your connection to certain workplaces; creating friend community, particularly as queer folks; finding satisfaction in work and being “entertained” by it; trading off more money for work experiences that you enjoy; pink collar jobs; creating balance between work and other aspects of our lives; creating a death plan, end of life celebrations, and legacy projects to cultivate a more meaningful death experience. 

References: 

David Bowie

Zen Hospice Project

Tibetan death and dying practice:
https://fpmt.org/mandala/archives/older/mandala-issues-for-1997/september/how-to-benefit-the-dying-and-the-dead/

On being driven by our anxiety about death, see Ernest Becker’s The Denial of Death:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Denial_of_Death
 (groundbreaking, but certainly dated) and  Terror Management Theory:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terror_management_theory

The Peachy Puffs
https://www.peachyspuffs.com/

The Real Live Brady Bunch
https://chicagoist.com/2013/07/07/chicagoist_weekend_theater_jane_lyn.php

Jill Soloway – the creator of the Real Live Brady Bunch, and more well known as the creator of Transparent and as a writer/producer on lots of critically acclaimed TV shows. Note: Jill is nonbinary and uses “they” pronouns now, and Nannette and I were not aware of this when we recorded the show. We offer our apologies to them for using the wrong pronoun.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Soloway

Jane Lynch
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Lynch

Ana Gasteyer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ana_Gasteyer

San Francisco’s New Dawn Cafe, RIP

Catholic Charities’ Homelessness and Housing services
https://www.catholiccharitiessf.org/what-we-do/homelessness-housing/overview.html

Walden House San Francisco
https://www.healthright360.org/agency/walden-house

San Francisco’s Sparky’s Diner, RIP.

Hostelling International
https://www.hihostels.com/

SF Ballet
https://www.sfballet.org/

Rabbit Rescue
https://www.rabbitrescue.com/sanfrancisco/

Future Farmers of America
https://www.ffa.org/

The performance troupe, nonprofit, and more, You’re Going to Die:
http://www.yg2d.com/

*      *      *

We are And The Next Thing You Know. Find us, and host Suzie Sherman, at

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Banana peel by Max Ronnersjö.
Theme and interstitial music by Jon Schwartz.

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#nextthingpod 70s Baby Boomers Brady Bunch Buddhism career paths death existential anxiety Gen X lgbtq lgbtqqia mental health middle age podcast queer San Francisco work
Suzie Sherman
About the Author
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