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kwyattmdEp. 494 Integrating Art and the End of Life with Rich Curtis

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1. Ep. 494 Integrating Art and the End of Life with Rich Curtis kwyattmd 55:12

Learn how a Hospice volunteer and doula utilizes his artistic talents to help patients and families.

My guest Rich Curtis is an artist, teacher, hospice volunteer and end-of-life doula. He currently volunteers for Archbold Hospice in Thomasville GA where he has utilized his artistic talents to help patients and their families at the end of life. Rich discusses his own path as an artist and eventually becoming a doula. He shares his drawings and tips for those considering being a hospice volunteer in this conversation. View Rich’s drawings at the link below or watch the video on YouTube to see them on screen:

View Rich’s drawings here

Watch on YouTube

Listen here:

This episode includes:

• Rich’s spiritual journey to becoming a doula
• How Buddhism encourages contemplation of death
• The value of teaching art students about death
• How Rich began drawing the hands of patients
• Why drawings of hands are a unique and powerful remembrance
• Life stories as told through images of hands
• Art as an opening to conversations with difficult patients
• The power of bringing our creative talents to the bedside of hospice patients
• Tips for hospice volunteers
• How Rich is creating “Breath Poems” from the sounds of end stage breathing

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Rich Curtis Facebook Page
• Rich’s Portfolio
• NEW Gift Guides for Caregivers, People Receiving Care, and People Who are Grieving
• Get my two newest books!! Stories from the Dark Night and The Tao of Death
• Get EOLU Podcast Merch here
• Conversations on Death with ChatGPT – Audiobook here; Print Book here
• Leave me a message by email: kwyattmd@comcast.net, Twitter, Facebook or Instagram
• Support your local bookstore by buying my books on Bookshop and Indiebound: 7 Lessons for Living from the Dying and The Journey from Ego to Soul
• Subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Stitcher Radio
• Check out the Series I’ve recorded in the past here
• Join the team at Patreon.com/eolu and receive free gifts like the “Mind if we talk about death?” mini-poster or Love Your Life sticker or coffee mug. PLUS get our regular bonuses: the monthly EOL News Update, monthly What to Watch recommendations, Behind the Scenes Bonus content, and automatic access to A Year of Reading Dangerously!
• Buy me a coffee
• Donate on Paypal

If you enjoy this content please share it with others and consider leaving a review on iTunes. Thanks again to all supporters on my page at Patreon.com/eolu, especially my latest supporters Tanya Archambault and Malynda Cress and thanks to Heather Jardine for buying me 3 cups of coffee! Your contributions make all the difference and ensure this podcast stays ad-free.

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Karen Wyatt Karen Wyatt MD

Dr. Karen Wyatt is the bestselling author of the book 7 Lessons for Living from the Dying, which contains stories of patients she cared for as a hospice doctor and the spiritual lessons she learned from them at the end of their lives. Her other books include The Journey from Ego to Soul, Stories from the Dark Night, and The Tao of Death. Dr. Wyatt also hosts End-of-Life University Podcast, which features conversations with experts who work in all aspects of end-of-life care. She is widely regarded as a thought-leader in the effort to transform the way we care for our dying in the U.S. In addition, she is valued for her application of spiritual principles to illness and healthcare and teaches that in order to live life fully we must each overcome our fear of death and embrace the difficulties that life brings us.