The Art of Memorialising

By: Echoes of Tomorrow: Your Memories Your Life Story Your Legacy Your Way
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  • Summary

  • How will your story live on in the digital age? From #Deathtech to digital immortality and life-story writing, we're crafting our legacies together. Let's write your future together—one memory, one story at a time.

    theartofmemorialising.substack.com
    Peter Billingham
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Economics Social Sciences
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Episodes
  • Paws and Petals: The Touching Story Behind a Dog Walker's Memorial

    Paws and Petals: The Touching Story Behind a Dog Walker's Memorial
    Oct 22 2024
    The Cherry Tree Memorial - How A Group of Gun Dogs Taught Us About Loyalty, Loss and HopeWhy was I standing by a freshly dug hole in the park, surrounded by a small group of my friends and their dogs? The answer lay in the cherry sapling nearby, its thin bare twigs reaching towards the sky like fingers grasping for hope. The air in the park that morning was heavy with the smell of soil and sadness. If given time, nature could work her mysterious miracles. Season after season, year after year, the beauty of the pink blossom would come to the tree’s barrenness. All it would take is time. But I had no time. ‘Go on Pete, say some words.’Words can feel futile when standing by a hole in the ground. But words often are all that’s left to express how we feel. It’s in moments like these, the sacred is close if we would stop and notice. These are the moments when the very essence of our limited time here on earth seems so precious. We can feel them heavy like velvet, but barbed with the pain of loss. I glanced at the surrounding faces, looking to me to speak words which might have seeds of hope within them. Words that, too, given time, might make some sense of the loss and confusion we all felt. For among us, our good friend, time had ended. For all of us, one day, time will end too.So I began. Shelagh would have loved this. All of us, and all our dogs together...A Pack of Friends: The Dog Walkers' Daily RitualTwenty years have passed since I was standing with a group of dog walkers around a hole in the park. The council that morning dug the hole to make room for the cherry tree that was about to be planted. The earth from the hole piled high next to us all. A pack of dogs laid down in twos and threes or sat next to their owners.For over three years, every day, same time, same paths of the park, we had walked together. I was the only man in the group. Gentle teasing and cheeky banter oiled smooth daily strolls with our dogs. The pack comprised only gun dogs - Labradors, Spaniels and Golden Retrievers, mine included. Not a pheasant in sight, to scurry or aim for. The odd squirrel would dare a run from cover now and then. The only thing we would shoot would be the breeze.Shelagh: The Heart of the GroupIn her early sixties, Shelagh’s short grey hair was as spiky as her wit. Her curious, enthusiastic character overflowed like the Angel Falls, rushing over us with wonder at the ever-changing natural world, her black lab always at her heels. Sarah wouldn’t leave her side, save for a swim in the brook, returning like a slick oiled otter.When Spring came to the park, the trails of pink and white blossoms would hang like leftover Christmas baubles. Our dogs would romp through the petal rain with unbridled abandonment, aware of only the present moment as dogs teach us that vital truth about living. What joy to live unconcerned with what anyone thinks, only to be lost in a moment's beauty. That was Shelagh. Shelagh was full of the joy of life and living, and forever making it overflow with laughter. The joker and storyteller of the dog walkers. Tales of her mishaps, the wry observation of one of us, her humour never with malice, just fun.Shelagh was forthright and direct, more like a Terrier than a gundog. It would cut through the small talk on our walks. She stood no nonsense, and we loved her all the more for it. As a self appointed organiser of our group, she brought coffee and cake for us and the dogs to celebrate the bandstand opening. She always included everyone in everything.When Laughter Fades: Shelagh's Battle with CancerShelagh’s once spritely walks around the park slowed as her back ‘played her up.’ As time marched on, Shelagh’s effervescent vitality faded from spring to winter.They had found cancer in her spine. Shelagh was a fighter. She had guts. Shelagh bravely never hid the truth from anybody. Her determination to fight was as unrelenting as her sinister enemy within.One day, she didn’t turn up. And, as the days passed on, Shelagh and Sarah the lab never walked with us and our dogs again. I wish I had known the day when it was the last time we would have walked together. I’d have taken more time to notice the moments, to listen with more attention, to see the eternal in the temporal. I suppose we should treat each moment as the last, as someday it will be. The last thank you, the last kiss, the last, ‘I love you.’ But we don’t. We imagine life will continue on. We missed Shelagh’s vitality, vigour and vim for brightening even the darkest and dankest of dog walking days. The park was much the same. The cherry trees bloomed in spring. But something then on was always missing.I kept in touch with Shelagh and visited her. Taking my dog, we’d chat. She kept optimistic, and hopeful, waiting for the days when she could join us again. Wanting to know the latest news, and what the trees in the park looked like.The dogs would play, and we would chat. She was renowned for her love ...
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    12 mins
  • Create, Capture, Cherish: Immortalise Your Life's Story in a Digital Memory Box

    Create, Capture, Cherish: Immortalise Your Life's Story in a Digital Memory Box
    Oct 8 2024
    Welcome to The Art of Memorialising (TOaM), Digital Legacy Edition #19.Whether you’re interesting in exploring the cutting edge of digital afterlife and digital immortality, or curious about the art of preserving your life stories, TAoM is here helping you leave a meaningful legacy online and off.In This Issue:* How After Cloud Moments is Transforming Memory Preservation for Future Generations* The Role of AI in Grief: Can Digital Replicas Comfort the Bereaved?* Unlocking Your Past: 125 Life Story Writing Prompts to Spark Your Digital Legacy* Is AI Playing A Role In The Lucrative Business of Grief? * Meta’s Digital Twin Revolution: What Does It Mean for Your Legacy?Featured Product - After Cloud Moments - A Digital Memory Box AppImagine what it would be like having at your fingertips a simple, easy to access journal to capture your life’s story? Suddenly you remember a scene from your past. Where can you keep that lost but now regained memory? Could you use an easy way to tell the story of your past, capture your present, and share your life with future generations?Well, that’s the promise of After Cloud Moments.After Cloud Moments is a digital memory box app. With After Cloud Moments, you can create immersive, and interactive timelines. Add images, text, audio, and video and save your life’s digital legacy in the ‘After cloud.’ It’s free to open an account to try. After Cloud Moments has given you 125 life story prompts to get your memories flowing back. (See below) But it’s more than just about leaving stories. Tommy Dunne received a diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer’s in December 2011. He’s using the app to record his memories while he can. After Cloud has a suite of other fascinating applications. * After Cloud Heritage - gives organisations and individuals a way to bring their heritage or history to life in creative ways. (For example, the history of Adidas.) * After Cloud Classics - So, you own a classic car? Your masterpiece of automotive engineering and history now can have a digital twin! The world’s most expensive classic car, the national treasure that is the AX201, Rolls Royce Silver Ghost, now has a After Cloud Classics Timeline.For more information, and to create a free account check out After Cloud Moments.Sponsor Spotlight Opportunity!Are you pioneering the future of digital legacies or revolutionising how we preserve memories? We're seeking innovative companies in the fields of AI, digital immortality, or life story preservation to feature in our next issues.This is your chance to showcase your product or service to an engaged audience passionate about leaving meaningful digital legacies.Interested in becoming our next featured sponsor?Contact me:Let’s discuss how we can spotlight your brand in an upcoming edition and collaborate to shape the future of digital remembrance together!5 Memorialisation MorselsQuick bites of #Deathtech #DigitalImmortality #LifeStory news:* Why Do 88% of People Overlook Digital Assets in Their Wills ? - According to research from Canada Life, while 95% of UK adults have digital assets, less than half (49%) have a will, and only 12% included at least one digital asset as part of their will. Many don’t believe their digital assets to be of value. (See Which Most People Have No Plans For Digital Death) For a wealth of information on #DigitalLegacy, check out Digital Legacy Management by Mark Krynsky. * The Future of Digital Memorials and Funerals: Personalised Services Set to Transform a $88.6 Billion Industry by 2033 - according to PR Newswire. I see this in my work as a celebrant and eulogy speechwriter. Many clients want bespoke memorials following a direct cremation. Have you attended a memorial service following a direct cremation? I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject.* ETERNAL YOU - Is AI Playing A Role In The Lucrative Business of Grief? Eternal You, is a film by Hans Block & Moritz Riesewieck that examines people who live on as digital replicas in the lives of their loved ones. Once a play on emotions of those, bereaved, now A.I. offers the real thing. Block and Moritz Riesewieck talk about the film in an interview at The Sundance Film Festival. * If Humans Can Live (digitally) Forever, Is There A Place For Faith and Religious Belief in Eternity? - Will the promise of A.I. digital immortality challenge long-held religious beliefs? A fascinating study, Where AI Thrives, Religion May Struggle, uncovers a link between automation and a decline in faith. For an alternative view, When humans can live forever, will people still follow Jesus? What do you think? * Is Your Personal Facebook (Meta) Replica or Digital Twin On The Horizon? Mark Zuckerberg’s keynote at the recent Meta Connect 2024, told how Meta Studio AI offers the chance to create your own digital replica. Zuckerberg showed these new chatbots interacting with the audience by mimicking the creator. (Connect Keynote 2024 at about 18 mins in to the video) ...
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    14 mins
  • The Future of Remembrance: Are You Ready for Your Digital Twin?

    The Future of Remembrance: Are You Ready for Your Digital Twin?
    Sep 10 2024
    Read time: under 8 minutesWelcome to The Art of Memorialising (TOaM), Digital Legacy Edition #18.Whether you’re interesting in exploring the cutting edge of digital afterlife and digital immortality, or curious about the art of preserving your life stories, TAoM is here helping you leave a meaningful legacy online and off.In This Issue:* Preserving memories and revolutionising dementia care with Sensay.* When planning a final send-off becomes a celebrity affair. * Who owns your data after your death and how do you feel about it being monetised? * Death Bots - a help or hindrance to mourning the loss of a loved one?Feature Product - Sensay: Building Digital Immortality For AllHow would you like to preserve your life story forever in digital immortality?Imagine all your memories, life stories and experiences, preserved. A digital clone of you to chat with for your future generations. That is available to you now, through Sensay. Your digital twin knows everything you know, talks like you, and even looks like you. That’s what a Sensay Replica does.At Sensay, there is a library of demonstration replicas you can chat with to see how the idea works. Famous figures, past and present. For fun, I had a little chat with Aretha Franklin.There are endless ways this AI technology could preserve your life story while you can remember and tell it. But what if your memories, or a loved one’s, are disappearing through dementia or Alzheimer’s? Dan Thompson founded Sensay on the principles of memory preservation to aid dementia patients. Thinking about how you could develop these ideas could prove revolutionary for families and those who suffer from such illnesses. It would be interesting to see some actual cases of its use for this purpose. In later editions, I’ll revisit the product with an update. Even perhaps patients who face Motor Neurone Disease taking their voice, now unable to speak the stories of their life anymore, could do through a replica forever?* What do you think about this idea? * Does the idea of preserving your wisdom and experiences in this way appeal to you? * How could this be used to store and access generations of life stories from your family?The recent release of the road map to digital immortality with true fully autonomous replicas by 2029, was complimented by the recent updated Replica studio. Now choose a Replica for work or a personal persona. Then evolve it over time by training your digital twin with text, pictures and videos. Dan Thomson recognises facing huge ethical challenges in this field. But having the possibility for revolutionary care is worth solving those issues. Sponsor Spotlight Opportunity!Are you pioneering the future of digital legacies or revolutionising how we preserve memories? We're seeking innovative companies in the fields of AI, digital immortality, or life story preservation to feature in our next issues.This is your chance to showcase your product or service to an engaged audience passionate about leaving meaningful digital legacies.Interested in becoming our next featured sponsor? Contact me:Let’s discuss how we can spotlight your brand in an upcoming edition and collaborate to shape the future of digital remembrance together!5 Memorialisation MorselsQuick bites of #Deathtech #DigitalImmortality #LifeStory news:* Celebrities Watching Their Own Funerals - Intriguing TV? Channel 4 launches Celebrity Send-Off. In conjunction with Co-op Funeralcare, a national UK funeral services provider, the show asks famous people how they would like to be memorialised. (via Anna Walker the conversation.com)* The Ethical Debate of the Privacy of the Dead - The Afterlife of Data: Who Controls Our Digital Legacy? The Billion-Dollar Battle for Your Data Beyond the Grave. (via Caroline Carruthers on informationweek.com)* EU's Landmark AI Act Takes Effect: Tech Giants Face Tough Changes - New Law Introduces Strict Regulations and Heavy Fines for AI Development, Targeting U.S. Tech Companies and Reshaping the Global AI Landscape. (via CNBC)* No One Is Ready for Digital Immortality. If your partner asked you, ‘Would you want to digitally resurrect me as an AI Avatar if I die first?’ What would you answer? (via Kate Lindsay The Atlantic)* Farewelling- An Academic Investigation. PhD student and Marie Curie nurse Sarah Stanley on the problems of ‘second loss’ and digital legacy in palliative care. (via Liverpool John Moores University)The Digital Edition Life Story Writing Prompts.This is new for the re-launch. Encouraging you to make sure your digital legacy includes stories from you life. So, grab a coffee and your journal and ponder these life-story writing questions. Would you create a digital avatar of yourself to interact with future generations?* If your digital twin could convey one core value or life philosophy to future generations, what would it be and why?* What life changing moments or decisions would you want your digital twin to be able to discuss, and ...
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    10 mins

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