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My Writing
My most current writings can be found here on LinkedIn.
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Human Burial Rites Span 100,000 years
Does it matter that the first evidence of a human burial rite is 100,000 years old? By way of comparison, the wheel is only a 5,500 year...

Rhyena Halpern
Mar 19, 20251 min read


Showing Up in the World
My hero, Parker Palmer, in a recent interview with the Greater Good Science Center said something I love. He said, "I can't think of a...

Rhyena Halpern
Mar 17, 20251 min read


Nike Was Wrong
Nike was wrong. Feel the fear and do nothing. I am feeling the fear. And noticing what it feels like. Every day since Jan 20th, I...

Rhyena Halpern
Mar 13, 20252 min read


$600,000,000,000
Six hundred billion dollars. That is the shocking value of unpaid caregiving by family members in the United States. In 2021, the AARP...

Rhyena Halpern
Feb 8, 20252 min read


You Are Not Your Grief
"You are not your grief. You are what the grief is moving through." Death and Dying Educator Frank Ostaseski said those words. On the...

Rhyena Halpern
Jan 28, 20251 min read


Feeling Called to End of Life Work?
Everyone wants to be an end of life doula! The recent uptick in calls and emails from people who want to be death doulas or end of life...

Rhyena Halpern
Jan 22, 20251 min read


Doulaing
I am doulaing. As someone with a propensity for making nouns into action verbs, I am doulaing. That means that an extremely articulate...

Rhyena Halpern
Jan 19, 20252 min read


A Holiday Salute to Caregivers
Stand up if you are a Caregiver! Let me, let all of us, applaud you! Family caregivers, those unpaid folks who are on 24/7 caring for...

Rhyena Halpern
Dec 11, 20241 min read


Deathbed Regrets
My sister died with regrets. I don't want to. So I work hard on letting go of mine. I had regrets about my divorce and after 25 years my...

Rhyena Halpern
Dec 10, 20241 min read


Planning Your Third Act at 80
Can you be 80 years old and planning for your next chapter of life? You bet!!! As a Third Act Retirement Coach and End of Life Doula, I...

Rhyena Halpern
Dec 7, 20241 min read


Who Will Miss You the Most?
People are writing their own obituaries before they die. There are a handful of common questions obituary writing guides often ask. But...

Rhyena Halpern
Nov 17, 20242 min read


The Privilege of Listening
When I read Anne Sexton's quote "Put Your Ear Down Close to Your Soul and Listen," I must admit that I am an end of life doula for...

Rhyena Halpern
Nov 12, 20241 min read


End of Life Planning is a Gift to Leave Your Loved Ones
Do you trust your people to carry out your wishes at the time of your death? As an end of life doula, I hear people express a few common...

Rhyena Halpern
Nov 8, 20242 min read


Enriching Our Elder Years
As we approach the end of our lives, our outside world may become smaller but our interior world can grow very large. In our elder years,...

Rhyena Halpern
Nov 5, 20241 min read


Is it OK to Date After Losing Your Partner?
There are more than 11 million widows and 3 million widowers in the U.S. Most are 65 or older. Many people who have lost a partner want...

Rhyena Halpern
Nov 3, 20241 min read


Suicide Death Pods in Switzerland
If you were suffering with a terminal illness and did not qualify for end of life medications, would you go to Switzerland? Many people...

Rhyena Halpern
Oct 10, 20241 min read


Your Life in Dots
What does your life look like in weeks? If you could see a chart that represented 90 years of human life, where would you fall on it?...

Rhyena Halpern
Oct 5, 20241 min read


When A Work Colleague Dies
Have you ever known a colleague in the workplace who died suddenly? I remember when I first started a new job many years ago, a...

Rhyena Halpern
Oct 2, 20242 min read


Grief in the Workplace
When I went back to work after my mom died, I did not expect such an outpouring of condolences from my staff. I was very touched by the...

Rhyena Halpern
Sep 30, 20241 min read


Wise Elders in the Office! Watch Out!
With about 11 million employees in the US 65 years old or older, or about 7% of all workers, the workforce in this country has a wider...

Rhyena Halpern
Sep 25, 20242 min read
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