"Planning for death is a life-affirming act." My guest for this episode is DeAnne Joy, a fellow soldier in grief and death, and like so many of these conversations, I felt we could have gone on for days together. We covered all manner of topics, from advance directives, to mortality, to self-care, to women in crisis to the straight-up vulnerability of releasing a Book Baby to the world. This interview is exactly what I love; layers of topics covered as we meander about, with death and grief as the gateway in. DeAnne is a a master transformation coach, speaker, and author who teaches people about living, and dying, authentically and powerfully. She is a Master Practitioner of NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) and a licensed clinical therapist with a Masters in Social Work, having worked as a therapist and end-of-life social worker for over 20 years. Drawing on both personal and professional experience, DeAnne specializes in helping women in their 40s and beyond turn their pain into purpose and live a fulfilled and unstoppable life with no regrets. Over the course of her career, DeAnne has helped thousands of people, including celebrities and CEOs in the entertainment industry. She has trained physicians in facilitating end-of-life conversations with patients and families, and is a strong advocate for completing advance healthcare directives to prepare for the future, while fully embracing life today. Her upcoming book, No Regrets: Embracing Death to Awaken to Life - 5 Keys to Living - and Dying - with Joy, Peace and Purpose, is due for release in June, 2018. In the episode, we talk about books. (Obviously.) Here are the ones we mention: Brene Brown - Braving the Wilderness Stephen Levine - Who Dies?: An Investigation of Conscious Living and Conscious Dying Randy Pausch - The Last Lecture Atul Gawande - Being Mortal To connect with DeAnne, you can use the following map coordinates: Website: www.joyservllc.com On Facebook: @DeAnne Joy, @JoyServLLC, or her private FB group, Choose Joy And as always, you are more than welcome to join us on the Grief: A Love Story group - you can share your thoughts on this and any of the episodes, and ask DeAnne or myself whatever questions you have. Download Episode