Stories at the Threshold - "Dying Matters: Eight Conversations That Can Change Your Life"

Stories at the Threshold: Voices on Death, Dying, and Living Fully

Some of the most important conversations we will ever have are the ones we keep putting off.

Emberlight is honored to launch our monthly Author Series with two voices at the forefront of conscious dying: Trish Rux and Janet Booth, co-authors of Dying Matters: Eight Conversations That Can Change Your Life. Together, they bring over seven decades of combined experience at the bedsides of dying people, and a shared conviction that these conversations don't belong only to the dying. They belong to all of us, right now.

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What to Expect

Join Emberlight Executive Director Aditi Sethi and Emberlight Director of Development Courtney Smith as they discuss Dying Matters with the authors in this one-hour virtual lunchtime conversation.

In our hour together, we'll enjoy a reading from Dying Matters by the authors, a structured discussion facilitated by Aditi and Courtney, and an open Q&A with Janet and Trish. While we encourage you to attend live so you can ask your questions directly, you are welcome to email questions ahead of time as well if you cannot be present. 

The series will be recorded and available afterwards for anyone who can't attend live.

This is the first in our monthly Emberlight Author Series, inviting us each month to slow down, go deeper, and be in community around the ideas and practices that shape how we live and how we die.

All are welcome. No prior experience with end-of-life work required,  only an open heart.

About the Book

Dying Matters is designed to support anyone guiding or accompanying others through life's most profound transitions. Its heart-centered conversations, reflection prompts, and real-life stories offer practical tools for meaningful dialogue about serious illness, end-of-life planning, caregiving, and more. 

Structured around eight essential conversations (spanning big-picture values, comfort care, heart and soul, the practical and the profound), the book is less a manual for dying than a guide for living. As Janet reflects, one of the biggest insights from decades of end-of-life work is how much these conversations impact us now: by cultivating curiosity, presence, and clarity in the way we live today. 

The book also includes a Discussion Guide, designed to support book groups, faith communities, care teams, and families, making it an ideal companion for exactly the kind of conversation Emberlight exists to hold.

You can purchase a copy of Dying Matters online, or in person at Emberlight. We encourage you to read ahead and come with questions.

About the Authors

Trish Rux is an End-of-Life Doula, Educator, and Registered Nurse with inpatient hospice experience. She has a background rich in the study of death and dying, and the practical knowledge from being at the bedside of hundreds of dying people. She is a co-author of Dying Matters: 8 Conversations That Can Change Your Life. Trish is a faculty member of the Conscious Dying Collective and Administrator of The Death Doula Collective website.

Most importantly, she sees working with the dying as a sacred calling.

Janet Booth, MA, RN has been following what she calls "cultural breadcrumbs" her entire career, from years at the hospice bedside to palliative care in oncology settings to teaching with the Conscious Dying Collective and the Art of Dying Institute. Her current work is as an end-of-life nurse, coach, and educator, serving as faculty for the Integrative Nurse Coach Academy and presenting widely on the transformative possibilities of end-of-life care.

Why This Event, and Why Now

At Emberlight, we believe that dying is not a medical event to be managed; it is a human experience to be met. Dying Matters speaks directly to the heart of our mission and our values.

The book's invitation to live by a compass, not a clock, echoes the Emberlight values of Embracing the Unknown and Curiosity, inviting us to ask not just what we fear about dying, but what we value about living. And in asking readers to have these conversations before crisis strikes, the book embodies what we call Courage: the willingness to face what is real, so that nothing important goes unsaid.

This is not a conversation about death. It's a conversation about what it means to be fully alive.

100% of proceeds donated go to support the mission and vision of Emberlight: Center for Conscious Living and Dying

This event is open to all, with a suggested donation. No one is turned away for lack of funds, and we welcome everyone to attend who feels called to share in this message. 

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