The Light Beyond

The chalice of repose...

I came across The Chalice Of Repose the other day, a site which may well be of interest for those caring for a loved one who is nearing the end of his or her life. One mission of The Chalice Of Repose (it has many different missions and ways to help) is to "Lovingly care for the physical and spiritual needs of the dying with prescriptive music, and to educate the general public about contemplative musicianship, music-thanatology, monastic medicine, and the possibilities of a blessed, peaceful or conscious death." To this end it provides (amongst other things) absolutely gorgeous, celestial music CDs and many thought-provoking and interesting books. Check out their store to see the kinds of gifts and resources available.

Dealing with bereavement in the UK

If you have lost a loved one and are based in the UK, an extremely useful resource to know about is the Death and Bereavement page of the Directgov site. It covers all the 'official' aspects of bereavement, such as registering a death, arranging a funeral, documents and information needed when someone dies, tax affairs after a death and lots more.

Grief and loss on Squidoo

Finally, I have got to grips with Squidoo, so we now have our own bereavement lens. You can find it at www.squidoo.com/the-light-beyond and it's also a good place to go to find other grief and loss sites and resources. It's kind of a social networking site, quite easy to get the hang of, and I'm hoping it will bring The Light Beyond to the attention of lots of new people who might need it... please do take a look and rate our Squidoo lens if you're a member, it all helps!

Could our bereavement forum help YOU?

The Light Beyond bereavement forum is gathering pace, and now has over 500 posts. Offering words of wisdom and advice for the bereaved, the grieving and those preparing for the death of a loved one, could it help you or someone you know?

If so, please help us to spread the word. The more people know about the bereavement forum, the more people we can help, and that's our mission in life.

We have also just added a Chat Room and an Inspirational Thoughts forum to inspire and uplift the readers of this caring, tolerant community. Why not visit the bereavement forum and take a look?

Message from the heart: how to write a sympathy card

When someone you know loses a loved one, the simple, thoughtful gesture of writing a sympathy card or condolence letter can bring an untold measure of comfort to the bereaved. In the quest to find the perfect words of condolence for a sympathy message, however, many people become overwhelmed and may avoid writing altogether.

If this should happen to you, begin by accepting the fact that no matter how carefully you choose your words, your condolences will not make everything better – nothing can do that. But a thoughtful, sincere sympathy message, written from the heart, can be a soothing balm, allowing the bereaved to feel your support and know that she is not alone in her sorrow.

Bereavement forum just launched

Today is a big day for me, as it sees the launch of our bereavement forum at www.thelightbeyond.com/forum. I've been working on it for months and at times struggled greatly with the technology, but finally got to grips with it! The forum motto is: 'Kindness in another's trouble, courage in your own', and I would like to make it the place to go on the Internet to find comfort after a loss.

Please do visit the forum and post your concerns, questions, thoughts, stories or anything else which is relevant. There are many different categories to post in. You might feel a bit alone to start with, but don't let that put you off. Plenty of other people will be along in the next few weeks to join you.

You will need to register before you can post (it's free), but you can browse other people's posts without joining. Bear in mind that we've never had a forum before, so if you have any trouble registering or if anything else seems unclear, please let us know and we will try to improve it.

Many thanks to you all for your continued support and encouragement! It is much appreciated.

Can't seem to find the right words?

Perhaps our ebook can help. Launched yesterday, Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep is a carefully crafted and highly eclectic collection of over 250 poems, quotations and readings for funerals, memorial services and just getting by. The right words have a wonderful ability to soothe the soul...

Find out more about Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep, available for instant download

"This book is at least as good as - if not better than - anything you can buy in the shops. The range of poems is superb and the attention to detail impressive." W.F.

"A great book for the early days, but of course it's good for afterwards too (when in some ways things are harder as everyone goes back to their lives except you). I did have a cry when I read some of the poems, and felt much better for it." A.L.

Welcome to The Light Beyond

Having said that, we're not sure if welcome is quite the right word. If you are here because of the death of a loved one, then we are truly sorry for your loss. Hopefully we can make things a little easier for you in your journey.

The site will launch on April 16, and was inspired by my own experiences of loss and sincere desire to help others. It has many free resources to help people cope with grief and bereavement. One of the main things which I have found helpful is to talk things over, so we are providing a bereavement forum as part of the site. You can browse other people's posts and submit your own, if you wish to; there is no charge for this service.

We also have our own inspirational movie, which will hopefully inspire people (we're not pretending it's going to change your life, but if it even makes you feel better for the five minutes it takes to watch it, then part of our job is done) and encourage them to spread the word. For further information and resources, please do visit the bereavement library - again, this is a totally free service. We hope it helps.