Surety of Death Fires Urgent Purpose in Life

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There are some people that make their
work just another thing they have to do,

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and there are those that make their
work something that they want to do.

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Welcome to Working on Purpose with your
host Elise Cortez. In our program,

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we provide guidance and inspiration from those
people who have found deeper meaning and

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personal connection to their work life.
It's beyond nine to five. It's working

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on Purpose. Now Here is your
host, Elise Cortez. I'm your host,

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Elise Cortez. Joining you live from
Dallas, Texas, which is home

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base for me. This program is
all about helping people more meaningfully and productively

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connect with their work and equipping leaders
to cultivate meaning and purpose in the workplace

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to elicit passion inspired contribution, innovation, and persevering performance. So I seek

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out and bring on guests to a
particular perspective, experience, or expertise that

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I think contributes to or expands this
conversation. I mean as a management consultant

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and social scientist. I draw on
the meaning and work identity research I've been

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doing over the last fifteen years,
as well as from my consulting, speaking

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and experience developing workforces across the globe. In these weekly conversations. It is

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my intention that you derive value you
can immediately apply to your personal and work

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lives. And it is my fervent
hope that you come alive with a possibility

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of living with passion, working on
purpose and just how big and fulfilling your

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life and work can be. And
if you do catch fire, I do

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not want to leave you without a
support line. Your call to action then

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is to contact me via email at
Elise at least cortez dot com. Tell

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me where do you just want to
join the distribution list to stay informed of

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these radio show topics. If you
want to see about joining a catch fire

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online inspiration, accountability or mastermind community, or you want information on my purpose

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driven leadership programs for individuals or companies, you can also find me on Facebook,

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LinkedIn, or send me a tweet
to Alice Cortez on Twitter. Back

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to the content. If you miss
last week's program, you can always catch

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it recorded podcast. We were on
the air with Phil Sotok. He's the

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founder of DPMC North America, a
management consultancy specialising in mission driven management and

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virtuous leadership. We talked about why
purpose is such an important driver in today's

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business world. How he sees that
working from purpose gives a critical element of

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integrity to people's lives, and his
learning perspective on how companies can manage by

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mission and virtuous leadership. Totally inspiring
conversation with us. This week we have

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a very very special guest, and
it's just ahead of my favorite holiday ever,

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Thanksgiving. We have with us Elizabeth
Fournier. She's the owner and operator

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of Cornerstone Funeral Services, where she's
affectionally known as the Green Reaper for her

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green burial advocacy. She serves on
the advisory board for the Burial Council,

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the environmental certification organization setting the standard
for green burial in North America. She's

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also the author of the Green Burial
hand guidebook, Everything you Need to Plan

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an affordable and environmentally friendly Burial.
We'll be talking about the inevitable event of

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death, how it can stoke a
tremendous sense of purpose across our lives.

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It was that she began doing their
work she's doing as an undertaker, and

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what it means to her and the
role and importance of granted and how showing

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up in life it gives us a
well lived experience. She tooches a day

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from Boring, Oregon. It's a
small town just outside of Portland, Oregon.

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Elizabeth, welcome to working on Purpose
use zesty one. Oh yes,

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I'm thrilled to be here. And
I love how Thanksgiving is your favorite You

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know, my favorite holiday is my
birthday. Gosh, what does that say

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about me? Well? How great
is that to hear from someone who works

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in the field that you do.
And I just can't wait to hear more

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about this. I have been telling
everybody who will listen to me that you're

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coming on my show today, So
I'm really excited about our conversation. But

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I will admit to you, Elizabeth, that when the idea of you having

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you coming on my show first came
across my radar, and first I dismissed

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it. I thought, you know, this show is about passion and purpose,

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and it seems to me like,
you know, this other side of

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life, this thing called death,
isn't really part of the bargain. But

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then I really got it. I
really got that the idea that since we

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do have a time stamp on our
lives, that is really what helps contribute

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to purpose for a lot of us. It gives us an earthgency. So

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it's precisely because we don't know when
we're going to be leaving that I think

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that we really need to be able
to focus on living with passion and working

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on purpose. Your thoughts, well, I think the truth is as an

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undertaker, I assist the living far
more than the dead. Over the years,

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I've really learned that death is here
to teach us not just about loss

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but about letting go, but most
importantly and really and truly about living.

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And perhaps one of the most important
facts about living is understanding that one day

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each one of us will die.
So I'm a mortician. I work with

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the dead, but really the reality
is it's really all about life and those

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left behind. Wow, well,
we have a lot to dig into here,

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and I could pick that brain of
yours and that soul and mind of

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yours for quite some time. But
one of the things that you talked about

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when we first did our conversation on
the phone to talk about what we wanted

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to share in a segment here this
episode is you talked about how people can

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live more energetically and creatively. You've
got to stand on that. What is

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it that you stand for on those
two topics. There's so much to unpack,

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so much to say. I would
say, first off, every morning

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we really open two gifts. Do
you have an idea what those two gifts

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are? The first thing would be
the eyeballs And I'm just kidding, Yes,

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that's really okay, exactly the eyeballs
to just we open our eyes and

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we know what that tells us.
Life is miraculous. Many of us take

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that for granted, and the moment
we arise in the morning, not only

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is it a brand new day with
all the food potential, but that majesty

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of being able to see what's going
on in the world is amazing. What

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I tell people a lot of times
to help them live more energetically and more

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creatively is when you wake up in
the morning, pretend like you are on

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your deathbed. And it doesn't have
to be depressing. It could be that

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sort of live like you were dying
attitude, that thought of Okay, so

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if this was my last day,
how would I shape this? How would

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I look? What would happen?
Should I be considering making smart choices?

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Should I be forgiving people? Should
I be picking up that instrument that's rusting

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in the corner I mean a lot
of that really matters, and that perspective

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is so rich and so full and
buoyant, and so many of us just

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wake up and sort of put one
foot on the floor and pull up the

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trousers and you know, shuffle off
to get the coffee and are begrudging about

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the fact it's Monday. But you
know, when you complain about Monday,

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be excited because Tuesday might be the
day that you die. Wow, this

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is so compelling. I'd love this, Okay. So one of the things

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that you alluded to there is,
which is something that I'm really really I

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take a big stand for in the
work that I do, is I really

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notice all the time, Elizabeth,
that people are literally walking through life either

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completely asleep or frankly in a semi
state of death, and they just don't

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know it. They're just you know, they're just there's the lights around,

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but nobody's home. And we I
know from the research that I do that

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the galp Orization says that only fifteen
one five percent of the global workforce is

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fully committed and engaged in enthusiastic about
their work. So the other eighty five

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percent are just kind of going through
the motions and mailing it in as we

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like to say. So I love
what you're saying that really just getting present

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to the awe of every day.
What a difference that would make for us.

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Yeah, life is more than just
drinking your cup of coffee, paying

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bills and just sort of waiting around
until the end comes. Right, There's

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so much more in those moments and
in those minutes, in those hours,

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the precious connections, all these things. Really, I think like what you're

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saying at least is live out loud. Yeah, I love that. I

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love that live out loud. Now, you mentioned something about the creativity piece,

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and I can certainly see that even
just and I say this and the

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work that I do and in my
programs, being allowing yourself to be inspired

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by what you see in life can
make you be inspired. And I also

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say that it contributes to your own
creativity. What else do you think we

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can do to stoke our creativity?
How about know thyself? I think that

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sounds so simple to thine be true. I think that's really really an amazing

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thing, because ultimately, if you
can see yourself and you know yourself through

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and through you know yourself discovery,
you can move forward and you can do

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these things. I think that they're
really to a certain degree. There's plenty

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of adults who really don't know who
they are and they get to that point

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of they watch Oprah and have that
Aha moment, and you know, you

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don't need that woman on TV telling
you to have that aha moment again.

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When you wake up in the morning, you open your eyes, that should

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be your AHA moment. Wow.
You know that's really a great point,

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Elizabeth. And I'll tell you I've
spent I've done a lot of work on

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myself, and of course it'll be
ongoing for the rest of the days that

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I have on the planet to continue
that investigation. But this last six months

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for me, it has been a
wealth of creativity. I've created my purpose

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or of leaders programs. I've written
half of my book, and I've actually

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readdressed the whole way that I address
crowds and speak in just in the last

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six months. And I do think
you're right. Part of that came from

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some of the really heavy duty lifting
I've been doing to understand who I am

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and what I'm up to in this
life. Let me share something else with

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you, as an undertaker, I
think the concept of a bucket list isn't

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a very good concept. I think
the movie was great. I love Morgan

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Freeman. I love the idea and
the purpose of the movie. But what

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I find is having this magical list
of before I die, I want to

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see Paris, and before I die, I really need to ask this person

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for forgiveness. You know what your
life is now? Now now, It

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really doesn't matter if you get to
Paris. It's really in this moment.

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How full are you, how blossoming
are you? And like you're saying,

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you're a never ending work of art, You're a never ending project, and

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you've got to put in the time. But our life is right now.

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It's not when you lose weight,
it's not when you get into that relationship

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you want, it's not when you
can finally pay your mortgage. It's right

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at this minute. I love that. In fact, when I was thinking

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about how to describe this particular episode, one of the things I said in

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the description is that our enemy is
complacency. We always have this idea that

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we've got our whole life in front
of us. I'll get to that,

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and I really appreciate what you're saying. We don't know if we're going to

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get to that, so let's just
get to it now. And if we

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don't get to whatever it is on
the list, that's okay. We're here

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now, be here now. There's
no pain in the present moment. Staying

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in the present moment it is so
much harder to do. Have you ever

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been having a conversation with a friend
and your mind is drifting off to something

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else, or you're going down the
street and rather than looking at the beautiful

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flora and fauna and really seeing every
street sign, you're just sort of an

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autopilot. You're just kind of going
through the motions of getting the point.

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At a point, b boo,
his boo, live your life, live

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out loud. Your moment is right
now. You love that. Well.

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On the other side of that,
One of the tests that I have people

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do in my purpose driven leadership programs, and we talked about this and when

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we were on the phone, is
I asked them to write their own obituary.

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And I'll say more about why I
do this, but first you mentioned

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it, So will you comment on
the idea of people writing their own obituary

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and why or why why? Why
are why not you think it's a good

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idea. I think it's fantastic and
something that I found when I was younger

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is I'm a writer. I've written
a couple of books, and I like

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to write articles and things. And
a couple of friends said to me,

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can you write a personal's ad for
me? And while I was writing ads,

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I was putting together kind of their
best foot forward details. It was

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really their time to shine. And
as I wrote this, I was thinking,

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Wow, you know, if you
die tomorrow, I just wrote your

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obituary. So it's sort of interesting
how it really is the same thing.

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It's you making that time and figuring
out what have you done in your life

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that you're proud of, what do
you stand for, and what will people

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remember you. I think as Americans
especially, we love the idea of having

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a legacy. That's why we are
the only people in society that will buy

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a grave space and have a headstone, and that grave space will always for

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perpetuity, even after we are no
longer alive for decades still belong to us.

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We don't reuse grave spaces because we
love the concept of having memorialization and

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legacy, and writing your own obituary
is called auto obituary. Did you know

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there's an actual name for this,
because a lot of scholastic people have their

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people do this. So I have
so much to say about this and would

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love to go on and on,
and still can go on and on,

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but I definitely wanted to answer your
question with a simple yes, I think

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it's a fantastic idea. Well,
you've certainly reinforced why it is as I

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do that in the program, I
can say that oftentimes what happens is when

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participants write their obituary, there's a
stark contrast between where they are today and

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what that looks like, meaning that
they've got a lot that they still want

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to do in life, they want
to contribute, they want to matter,

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and that chasm can be really motivating
for people. And so that's a big

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reason that I have people do it
in the workshops and for them to really

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step out of themselves the idea when
you're there's something about stepping out of today

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and actually when you're you know you're
dead that gives you permission to really really

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create. It seems to me in
a way that we don't limit ourselves as

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much as we might if we didn't
consider that we're doing this from the grave.

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The grave site. Yeah, I
love that. I love that idea

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of who do you see yourself as? What do you want to be?

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And then the goals that you've accomplished
I want to accomplish. But then I

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think there's a deeper layer to this, and that's really taking a look at

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if I die today, what I
die happy? And am I satisfy with

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the direction of my life? What's
my legacy on creating what's missing from my

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life? And ultimately, do what
do I need to do in order for

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my obituary to be quote unquote complete, For me to feel like I've written

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the story of my life, I
can tuck it away in the drawer and

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that goofy bucket list isn't hanging over
my head. I've done what I need

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to do to feel complete on Earth. Wow, that's kind of neat.

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We can always be an ever unfolding
and organic package that sort of does what

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it needs to do and ebbs and
flows and the strength of the universe.

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But nonetheless, I sort of feel
like you've completed what you really have maybe

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intended to do. That's pretty powerful. It sure is. In fact,

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I'll just say quickly, I remember
when I went to an identity research conference

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some couple of years ago. Yes, I love I love investigating identity anyway,

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the gentleman who had been at it
for like fifty years, he talked

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about how fulfilling his life had been, and how you know, if he

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did fall off the face of the
earth the next day or in the next

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hour, he'd just great with that
because he's done what he's what he wanted

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to do, and that sense of
peace that came with that was just so

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palpable. I like that. But
maybe that's not who you want to sit

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next to on a plane because maybe
you know his ticket's going to be called.

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He's done. Yeah, I did
distance myself just a little bit.

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Yeah, you go over that side
of the room and I'll be right over

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here. Okay, Well, let's
grab our first break. And there's so

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much more I want to ask you, but we'll grab our first break.

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I'm your host. Stolie Cortez went
on in the Air with Elizabeth Fournier.

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She's now under an operator of Cornerstone
Funeral Services. She is the author of

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the Green Burial guidebook Everything you Need
to Plan an Affordable, environmentally friendly Burial.

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She knows today from Boring, Oregon. We've been talking a bit about

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how it is that death can actually
give us urgency with which to live our

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lives with purpose and fulfillment. After
the break, we're going to talk a

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bit about her actual work, what
she's learned from her work, and how

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she got in it, what she
actually does in her in her day to

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day. Stay with us, we'll
be right back. Elise Cortez is a

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speaker and engagement and development catalyst.
She designs and delivers professional development, leadership

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and engagement workshops and can bring her
expertise to your organization. She will help

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ignite meaningful development within your workforce that
will increase employee engagement, performance and retention.

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To learn more or to invite a
lease to speak to your organization,

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please visit her at www dot Elise
Cortez dot com. She would welcome the

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opportunity to help get your employees working
on purpose. This is working on Purpose

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with Elise Cortez. To reach our
program today, send an email to Elise

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ali Se at Elise Cortez dot com. Now back to working on Purpose.

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If you're just joining us, My
guest is Elizabeth Fournier, the owner and

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operator of Cornerstone Funeral Services in Boring, Oregon, where she is affectionally known

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as the Green Reaper for her green
burial advocacy. She serves on the advisory

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board of the Green Burial Council,
the environmental certification organization setting the standard for

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green burial in North America. She's
also the author of the Green Burial guidebook

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Everything you Need to Plan an Affordable, environmentally friendly Burial. I'm your host,

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Alice Cortez. So we were talking
before the break, Elizabeth, about

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really just how death can really be
a friend for us and help guide our

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lives in a meaningful way. And
you've been in this space for a while,

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and I know you could probably talk
a lot about this, but just

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what are some of the major things
that you've learned about life through the work

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that you do. Well. I've
learned that I don't have the ability to

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take away someone's pain. I always
wished, after being nearly thirty years in

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the deathcare industry, that I would
know magical phrases or I would know these

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really fantastic things that I could say
to somebody and they could look at me

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and say, oh, okay,
and their pain would dissolve. Oh and

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I found that it's, you know, there's a ship in the ocean,

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and we all get a turn at
the helm, and before you know it,

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it's going to be your turn at
the wheel, because ultimately we all

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get a turn of going through loss
and grief and somebody in our life dying,

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and we just have to really be
just gentle with each other. You

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know, that's such an interesting point. Just very quickly, I can say

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that I haven't had a lot of
experience with people dying, and just beyond

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my grandparents, nobody around me per
se. But I have been around other

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friends who've lost people, and what
I found is that they want to talk

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about it. And it seems like
we tend to avoid talking about death.

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We get upset or nervous or uncomfortable. And my experience so far has been

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that people enjoy being able to talk
about the person who's past. Do you

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have a perspective on them? Yeah? I do, And make sure you

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use that person's name. That's especially
important for people who've lost spouses or long

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term partners, especially with parents who've
lost children. People will just say your

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loss or something, or maybe they'll
say your daughter, but you really need

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to say Julie or you really need
you don't because people don't want that person

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to disappear, and they're afraid if
you don't bring their name up and talk

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about Eddie or Frankie or just kind
of say your kid that died or just

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you know, they just go away
and fade away out of sight because ultimately

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there is sort of a black mark
left where they used to be so helpful.

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That's so helpful for our listeners,
I think. So. I think

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it would be terribly interesting for all
of us to learn just how it was

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that you decided to become an undertaker. I mean that seems to me it's

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a job that certainly is needed in
the world, but it's probably not one

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that immediately registers as possibility for a
lot of people. So what's the story.

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How do you endered Field thirty years
ago? No less, Yeah,

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my career. It's a calling far
greater than me. I would say,

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it's destined. Perhaps it's probably written
in the stars. And that's really because

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as a child, BOSS had to
find my world over a brief span of

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three years in the home that we
shared, one family member after the next.

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They died when I was six.
My paternal grandmother had passed, and

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an eight my mother, and just
about six months after my mom, my

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paternal grandfather. So by the time
I was nine, I mean, I'd

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been to so many funerals I become
something of an accidental expert. Let alone.

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I was left with a father who
was a young man of forty who

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just lost both parents and his wife
within three years. I'm a fifty year

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old woman who couldn't even fathom raising
two small children without, you know,

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and losing parents, and it's amazing
to think about. So Ultimately, my

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story gets a little bit cooky in
the sense that my father remarried right away.

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But I needed to grieve, I
needed to expand, I needed to

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figure out what I felt. So
I started attending funerals of people I didn't

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know, just at my little local
Catholic church when I could drive. I

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began pruising the obituaries and circling the
most interesting ones I could find, and

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i'd be on my way. On
Saturdays. You could find me sitting quietly

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alone in the very last pew,
and I was reverent. I wasn't there

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to make a mockery of it.
I was really trying to work my way

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through grief and figure it out.
And basically what had happened is I finally

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realized that my healing was kind of
coming to me because I found you attending

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a stranger's funeral comforting at first,
But the more I began to attend,

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the more I noticed I felt sort
of less connected to the ritual because they

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all seem sort of the same.
We had sort of the same music,

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the same words, sort of addressed
the deceased in the same sort of casket.

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We're kind of going about the same
way. It seemed very highly impersonal

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after a while, but still I
knew that this was something I wanted to

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be a part of and be a
part of somehow. So really, towards

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the end of my funeral crashing days, I really worked up enough urge to

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tell my father that, Dad,
I think my life purpose is probably to

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be a mortician. Of course,
I didn't say mature words like that at

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age thirteen, but that's kind of
where we went with it. So ultimately

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I knew I wanted to be an
undertaker. He sort of discouraged that.

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I went on and got my four
year degree. I lived in a cemetery

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when I was in college, and
I never shook the concept of this is

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what I need to do, This
is who I am, and I want

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to go on and figure out how
to make this work for other people.

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Oh my gosh, Elizabeth, that
was so worth the price of admission right

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there. Just that one conversation is
so awesome. I'm so sorry about all

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your losses, of course, but
wow, wow, that is very powerful,

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very compelling. And I and I
so appreciate that you know that you

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consider this as your calling. This
that's that's incredibly powerful. That yeah,

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and and and then now we take
it. One of the things that I

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really loved that you're up to.
I love the fact one that you were

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a funeral crasher. That just cracks
me up. But but the fact that

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they call you the green Reaper,
I love that because you're focus on green

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burial. I'm very proud to come
from Oregon, Elizabeth. I spent most

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of my life in Oregon. I'm
very proud of my of my my cultural

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heritage. And one of the things
that I really loved is, you know

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the environmental focus that the state tends
to focus on. By the way,

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just quickly, do you know Susan
Soko Blosser. They oh, sure,

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the winery. Yeah, yeah,
she was on my radio show and I

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did go see here there and in
Portland when I came through a couple of

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years ago. So anyway, so
the green Reaper first and green burial.

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I had never heard of this until
you came on my show. So what

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does that mean green burial? And
how is that different from a regular burial?

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Yeah? Sure, So it's a
basically breakdown what green burial means is

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it's a set of body preparations and
funeral and burial practices that really allow a

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body to naturally go from being it's
full self as we know it into something

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biodegradable and something that nurtures the earth. If that sounds a little shrouded.

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Ultimately, it's really what we did
as a traditional burial for human history up

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till about the twentieth century. It's
a matter of the embody not being embombed,

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not having toxic chemicals, letting it
be in as natural state. From

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there, we're putting the body into
a shroud or a natural casket or something

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made at a banana leaves or bamboo
wicker, placing that into the earth and

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allowing it to go back to nature. So it's that full cycle of life

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without letting any formaldehyde or concrete or
steel or anything getting away of the whole

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natural process. Elizabeth, that is
stunningly beautiful. I had no idea,

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I said, this is not on
my radar. I don't like I said,

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I don't. I haven't lost people
close to me, so the death

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process has not been in my radar. But I really appreciate the focus the

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care of the whole cycle that you're
talking about. That just makes so much

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sense to me. Thank you.
I'm glad it's something that is neat neat

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and it's probably a silly word,
but that is something that came to me

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unknowingly. I had come out to
this rural parlor here and I became a

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funeral homeowner in two thousand and five, just an old, broken down,

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repurposed goat barn in the country.
And within a very short period of time

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of coming here, I received a
phone call from a woman who wanted to

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bury her friend. And her friend, Wanda, had lived on communal property

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out in the country. They wanted
to lay her to rest on the private

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acreage, and they asked me if
I can help them do this, And

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this was something I had never heard
of. I had never done before.

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I worked for corporate funeral homes,
and we did things sort of what people

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think of as a quint of a
modern burial, modern funeral. So I

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called around, made the phone calls, find out that yes, indeed,

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this is legal, and this is
something we can do. I help this

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family do this. It was lovely
that they were able to stay with Wanda

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from her last breath until her final
goodbye. It brought them so much comfort,

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so much closure. They could do
things their way. They could wrap

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her in the quilt that they wanted, they could prepare her own burial space,

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we could lower her into the earth, and it was so lovely that

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as I drove home that day from
Wanda's service, I realized, this is

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amazing. I thought my calling was
to be in the funeral industry, but

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I realized, no, my calling
is to be this person who ultimately ended

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up being nicknamed the Green Reaper.
I just am so impressed, And I

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also appreciate, Elizabeth, that you're
a pioneer in your field, and you

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serve on the advisory board for the
Green Burial Council, and I know that's

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the environmental certification organization setting the standard
for green burial in North America. So,

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first again, I want to applaud
that you're a pioneer, you're a

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00:27:36.279 --> 00:27:40.319
leader, you're pushing that, you're
pushing the field forward. Who are you

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00:27:40.359 --> 00:27:44.240
working with and what are you really
trying to get done there in that organization.

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Well, ultimately what my goal is
is to say families money and save

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the planet at the same time,
and that can be done. In Oregon.

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We love to recycle, We love
to our own herbs and vegetables.

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I mean, your home state does
great things. Wear We bring our cloth

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00:28:04.319 --> 00:28:10.119
sacks to the grocery store, and
you know we care about getting our cans

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back and recycling them. So it
makes a lot of sense if you're going

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00:28:12.839 --> 00:28:18.720
to live this real environmental impactful lifestyle, that why can't you keep it green

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till the end? And you really
can keep that trend going forward that way.

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So helping families be able to do
things how they want, it saves

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them so much money. You don't
have to buy that expensive casket, you

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don't have to have all the goods
and services from the funeral home. Also,

404
00:28:34.319 --> 00:28:41.160
it saves them the standard of the
environment. We are not putting chemicals

405
00:28:41.160 --> 00:28:44.759
and fertilizer and pesticides back into the
earth. If you're choosing to be in

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a natural burial space, or if
you're even lucky enough to have your own

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home acreage. Organ really states that
most counties allow you to have a backyard

408
00:28:55.279 --> 00:29:02.680
burial if you have some certain logistics
such as at least one acre and the

409
00:29:02.799 --> 00:29:06.920
landowner says this is fine. You
know, you're a little bit away from

410
00:29:06.920 --> 00:29:10.839
the roadway or a watershed, and
most of this is very very workable.

411
00:29:10.880 --> 00:29:15.720
It's very easy to get, very
easy to do. So ultimately, my

412
00:29:15.880 --> 00:29:21.640
concept is there's that huge toxic black
mark in the ecosystem because of all of

413
00:29:21.680 --> 00:29:26.759
the embombing that we started out doing
in the eighteen sixties after the Civil War,

414
00:29:26.839 --> 00:29:30.240
and we've got a million acres of
modern cemeteries with a laundry list to

415
00:29:30.319 --> 00:29:36.240
potential groundwater problems, and it's sort
of reversing the damage we've already done here

416
00:29:36.240 --> 00:29:40.000
to mother Earth. Wow, it
strikes me that this ought to be in

417
00:29:40.039 --> 00:29:42.680
our will. Then this is how
we want to be buried. It's definitely

418
00:29:42.759 --> 00:29:49.160
a personal choice. I find families
sometimes really want cremation or they would really

419
00:29:49.200 --> 00:29:55.839
love the idea of being viewed for
a couple days with embombing and having the

420
00:29:55.920 --> 00:29:59.480
hearse and having all these things.
And you know, as a funeral provider,

421
00:30:00.039 --> 00:30:03.680
funeral director, mortician, undertaker,
pretty much all the same guidance under

422
00:30:03.720 --> 00:30:08.160
that license. I have an ethic
that I hold where I'm here to serve

423
00:30:08.200 --> 00:30:15.000
families and provide information. So whatever
somebody wants to do to honor their loved

424
00:30:15.039 --> 00:30:21.599
one, absolutely fantastic. But when
I see a family have interest in doing

425
00:30:21.680 --> 00:30:26.519
something a little bit more, do
it yourself, or they ask on ways

426
00:30:26.640 --> 00:30:30.559
they can save money, or they
say, hey, I read this article

427
00:30:30.640 --> 00:30:33.799
or oh I saw your book,
tell me more. I'm thrilled to have

428
00:30:34.000 --> 00:30:40.599
that open door to walk right through
and share all the information, give them

429
00:30:40.640 --> 00:30:45.599
all of the choices. And it's
amazing to see people get so excited when

430
00:30:45.640 --> 00:30:48.039
they can do things their way,
when they realize, oh my gosh,

431
00:30:48.119 --> 00:30:53.160
I can make my own cassket,
I can provide my own transportation for my

432
00:30:53.200 --> 00:30:57.079
loved one. You really, I
can come to the funeral home and I

433
00:30:57.160 --> 00:31:02.839
can help bathe my mom and dress
her and say goodbye and have time.

434
00:31:03.200 --> 00:31:07.160
You bet you All these things are
your rights, and we don't realize that

435
00:31:07.160 --> 00:31:12.319
that when somebody passes away, that
body belongs to the family, that's your

436
00:31:12.440 --> 00:31:18.880
loved one. There is only ten
states of the United States that say you

437
00:31:18.000 --> 00:31:22.160
have to turn over your body to
a funeral home's so that means there's forty

438
00:31:22.200 --> 00:31:26.119
states. And so you can act
as your own funeral director and take care

439
00:31:26.160 --> 00:31:29.680
of your loved one as much as
you want. So pretty neat people don't

440
00:31:29.680 --> 00:31:33.759
realize all the rights we have.
Can you work with people outside of Oregon?

441
00:31:34.200 --> 00:31:37.400
Oh? Sure, okay, so
listeners. We have listeners from all

442
00:31:37.440 --> 00:31:41.400
over the globe, Elizabeth, So
people could actually reach out to you just

443
00:31:41.440 --> 00:31:44.440
because you're an Oregon enough, so
great. So yeah, it's fun.

444
00:31:44.559 --> 00:31:48.359
I had a woman the other week
who emailed me. She was starting to

445
00:31:48.400 --> 00:31:52.640
prepare a burial space in her yard
in Alaska, and she thought, well,

446
00:31:52.160 --> 00:31:56.559
we're gonna have the frozen tundra,
We're gonna have all the rain.

447
00:31:56.680 --> 00:31:59.279
What do I do? And I
was able to instruct her and tell her

448
00:31:59.319 --> 00:32:04.240
the way she continue digging, how
she should preserve this space in the yard,

449
00:32:04.279 --> 00:32:07.759
and it was wonderful. And she's
an Alaska and her loved one won't

450
00:32:07.759 --> 00:32:12.160
be handled by my funeral home because
that person will die in that state.

451
00:32:12.200 --> 00:32:15.079
But nonetheless, she can reach out
and get all the information she need.

452
00:32:15.079 --> 00:32:19.599
It's happy to help. Okay,
awesome, Okay, great. Well let's

453
00:32:19.599 --> 00:32:22.319
talk a little bit about your book. One. I applaud that you've got

454
00:32:22.359 --> 00:32:25.240
some books out there. I'm writing
my first, so I really appreciate that

455
00:32:25.319 --> 00:32:30.960
yours is out there. So the
Green Burial Guidebook everything you need to do,

456
00:32:30.319 --> 00:32:35.680
everything you need to plan an affordable, environmentally friendly burial. So what

457
00:32:35.799 --> 00:32:37.519
are some of the key messages in
there. I'm sure there's a whole lot

458
00:32:37.559 --> 00:32:40.000
you could convey, but what is
it you really are trying to convey in

459
00:32:40.039 --> 00:32:45.319
that book. I think the key
message is that we can do so much

460
00:32:45.359 --> 00:32:51.240
better, and why not celebrate a
life well lived. I helping to heal

461
00:32:51.319 --> 00:32:53.720
the planet and give back. There
are so many ways we can leave a

462
00:32:53.799 --> 00:33:00.839
greener footprint. There are things people
aren't aware of. You can choose any

463
00:33:00.880 --> 00:33:06.480
biodegradable container, any cemetery will allow
you to bury your loved one in a

464
00:33:06.599 --> 00:33:10.559
cardboard box or the sheet off of
your bed. So that's really a lot

465
00:33:10.599 --> 00:33:15.599
of money spent and also not a
lot of carbon footprint going into the world.

466
00:33:15.839 --> 00:33:20.880
I think something else my book really
tries to let people know is to

467
00:33:20.920 --> 00:33:25.200
be easy on yourself. We all
have these best laid plans, and when

468
00:33:25.200 --> 00:33:30.240
we know somebody's going to die or
we're going to die ourselves, sometimes there's

469
00:33:30.279 --> 00:33:35.559
conversations and there's dialogues, and there's
the idea of what should we do when

470
00:33:35.599 --> 00:33:39.279
this happens. And I've had families
who've laid everything out step by step of

471
00:33:39.359 --> 00:33:45.880
how the home funeral will look or
if they're going to use the funeral home,

472
00:33:45.039 --> 00:33:50.599
what they want that to look like, what everything will look like,

473
00:33:50.720 --> 00:33:54.920
and sometimes it doesn't work out because
of weather. Sometimes at the end of

474
00:33:54.960 --> 00:34:00.839
someone's life, you have sat by
that bed for so many days, you

475
00:34:00.839 --> 00:34:06.319
are emotionally and physically exhausted, and
the idea of going to the fabric store

476
00:34:06.359 --> 00:34:10.079
and getting that material to make a
shroud just seems so overwhelming. There's times

477
00:34:10.079 --> 00:34:15.679
that families really have thought that they
would get all of the stuff together,

478
00:34:15.800 --> 00:34:21.079
but the death happened too soon.
And it's really about being gentle, it's

479
00:34:21.119 --> 00:34:25.079
about finding your community, it's about
letting your wishes be known, and ultimately,

480
00:34:25.119 --> 00:34:29.920
I guess, going back to our
earlier conversation, being true to yourself,

481
00:34:30.719 --> 00:34:36.159
living your life to its fullest right
now, opening those eyes in the

482
00:34:36.199 --> 00:34:42.000
morning and knowing that this is you
and you're doing great. Oh. I

483
00:34:42.119 --> 00:34:44.920
love it, Elizabeth, I love
it. So appreciate the message and what

484
00:34:44.960 --> 00:34:47.440
you're up to in life. I'm
glad I paths across. I only wish

485
00:34:47.440 --> 00:34:51.519
week be doing this in person.
Wouldn't that be more fun? Yeah?

486
00:34:51.599 --> 00:34:54.800
Then I could get all of your
Thanksgiving recipes. Well, I come through

487
00:34:55.159 --> 00:34:59.519
or again almost every single year.
So the next time I come through next

488
00:34:59.559 --> 00:35:01.320
summer, I'm going to look you
up and come find you. I'll buy

489
00:35:01.360 --> 00:35:07.559
you a Boring Oregon bumper sticker.
Woo. Okay, let's grab our last

490
00:35:07.559 --> 00:35:09.280
break. I'm Elise Cortez, your
host. We're on the air with Elizabeth

491
00:35:09.320 --> 00:35:14.239
Bourgnier, the owner and operator of
Cornerstone Funeral Services. She's the author of

492
00:35:14.239 --> 00:35:17.719
the Green Burial guidebook Everything you Need
to Plan an affordable and barley friendly burial.

493
00:35:19.079 --> 00:35:21.920
She knows today from Boring Oregon.
After the break, we're going to

494
00:35:21.960 --> 00:35:24.320
talk about the importance of giving things
and living in gratitude. Stay with us,

495
00:35:24.360 --> 00:35:40.719
We'll be right back. Alise Cortez
is a speaker and engagement and development

496
00:35:40.760 --> 00:35:46.239
catalyst. She designs and delivers professional
development, leadership and engagement workshops. And

497
00:35:46.320 --> 00:35:52.119
can bring her expertise to your organization. She will help ignite meaningful development within

498
00:35:52.159 --> 00:35:57.239
your workforce that will increase employee engagement, performance and retention. To learn more

499
00:35:57.440 --> 00:36:01.000
or to invite Elise to speak to
your organization, please visit her at www

500
00:36:01.079 --> 00:36:06.639
dot Elise Cortez dot com. She
would welcome the opportunity to help get your

501
00:36:06.719 --> 00:36:17.480
employees working on purpose. This is
working on Purpose with Elise Cortez. To

502
00:36:17.599 --> 00:36:23.519
reach our program today, send an
email to Elise ali Se at Elise Cortez

503
00:36:23.639 --> 00:36:30.679
dot com. Now back to working
on purpose if you're just joining us.

504
00:36:30.679 --> 00:36:34.719
My guest is Elizabeth Fournier, the
owner and operator of Cornerstone Funeral Services in

505
00:36:34.760 --> 00:36:38.000
Boring, Oregon, where she is
affectionally known as the Green Reaper for her

506
00:36:38.000 --> 00:36:43.840
green burial advocacy. She serves on
the advisory board for the Green Burial Council,

507
00:36:44.079 --> 00:36:47.079
the environmental certification organization set in the
standard for green burial in North America.

508
00:36:47.480 --> 00:36:51.880
She is also the author of the
Green Burial guidebook Everything you Need to

509
00:36:51.880 --> 00:36:54.559
Plan an Affordable, environmentally friendly Burial. I'm your host, Elise Cortez.

510
00:36:55.320 --> 00:36:59.519
Okay, so for this last segment
here, Elizabeth, I really wanted to

511
00:36:59.559 --> 00:37:04.199
focus on the importance of giving things
and living in gratitude. And this show

512
00:37:04.280 --> 00:37:08.119
is intentionally airing just before Thanksgiving,
my favorite holiday, and I wanted to

513
00:37:08.119 --> 00:37:12.599
talk about gratitude in it because I
know how important it can be to situate

514
00:37:12.679 --> 00:37:16.800
and ground people and give them a
positive lens and possibility to view their lives

515
00:37:16.840 --> 00:37:22.119
from. Why do you what's your
perspective of gratitude and it's importance in our

516
00:37:22.159 --> 00:37:28.440
lives? I think gratitude is really
everything. Gratitude is hand in hand with

517
00:37:28.519 --> 00:37:31.719
love, with friendship, with respect, all the big ones, all the

518
00:37:31.800 --> 00:37:36.840
key players, though it's right there
with that. It's really that idea of

519
00:37:37.320 --> 00:37:43.039
digging deep, asking questions, which
all leads to growth and expansion, and

520
00:37:43.840 --> 00:37:51.079
really trying to figure out what is
the best road not traveled. I somehow

521
00:37:51.159 --> 00:37:53.599
want to remember, and that may
be a manufacturing this, but I want

522
00:37:53.599 --> 00:37:59.800
to say that I read somewhere that
living in gratitude or working from gratitude actually

523
00:38:00.239 --> 00:38:02.960
just the chemicals in our brain.
Do you know anything about that? You

524
00:38:04.039 --> 00:38:07.639
know that sounds totally right on.
I think that you literally just go with

525
00:38:07.760 --> 00:38:12.320
there, let's just go with it, let's just say that. So I've

526
00:38:12.320 --> 00:38:15.519
got to do my research and see, but I'm fairly certain I came across

527
00:38:15.559 --> 00:38:19.440
that. But for me, that
whole space it's part of also a practice

528
00:38:19.440 --> 00:38:22.360
that I do in my leadership program
work in terms of helping people get grounded

529
00:38:22.400 --> 00:38:28.559
in a place that opens to possibility, inspiration, awe, all those things

530
00:38:28.599 --> 00:38:31.519
that you give us, the motivation
and energy which is just so important.

531
00:38:31.559 --> 00:38:36.760
So even today when I was out, I was out grocery shopping for Thanksgiving,

532
00:38:36.880 --> 00:38:38.760
Elizabeth, and there were so many
people. I heard some people saying

533
00:38:38.760 --> 00:38:43.679
thank you, thank you. Everybody's
bumping into each other and and I don't

534
00:38:43.719 --> 00:38:45.599
know if it's because I'm just I've
got a lens for that, or if

535
00:38:45.639 --> 00:38:50.039
people are more gracious during the week
of Thanksgiving. I don't know. Do

536
00:38:50.079 --> 00:38:52.119
you have any idea on that.
Let's hope that's how it is. Let's

537
00:38:52.119 --> 00:38:58.039
hope that once we get past that
immediate level of Oh, I've got a

538
00:38:58.119 --> 00:39:00.079
charge down the street and got to
go and park my car, and I've

539
00:39:00.119 --> 00:39:02.719
got to get in the store and
I've got to do this. Hey,

540
00:39:02.920 --> 00:39:07.000
the up is it tool is you've
got money to buy stuff, and you've

541
00:39:07.039 --> 00:39:08.599
got feet. They can get you
from point A to point B and you've

542
00:39:08.639 --> 00:39:13.639
got someone to have a mouth that
you can put food into. It's all

543
00:39:13.719 --> 00:39:16.840
pretty darn good, right, It's
all good. I would tend to agree

544
00:39:16.840 --> 00:39:21.320
with them. So along those lines, I thought it would be it would

545
00:39:21.360 --> 00:39:23.199
be interesting and nice for each of
us to be able to say, but

546
00:39:23.280 --> 00:39:27.519
about what we're grateful for. So
you go first. What are you grateful

547
00:39:27.559 --> 00:39:32.039
for? Elizabeth? Oh? Okay. I am grateful for a husband who

548
00:39:32.039 --> 00:39:39.800
makes my life easier rather than harder. I am grateful for a child who

549
00:39:39.880 --> 00:39:46.519
understands the wonderment of nature. I'm
grateful for my farm animals, my goats

550
00:39:46.519 --> 00:39:52.639
and sheeps who hang out and yell
my name when I drive up the drive

551
00:39:52.639 --> 00:39:58.360
away and I brush their hair and
sing Mediaci style to them, and they

552
00:39:58.440 --> 00:40:02.480
are nice to me and forgive me
and love me no matter how crappy my

553
00:40:02.679 --> 00:40:07.960
day was. Love it, Love
it, love it. There's a lot

554
00:40:08.000 --> 00:40:12.519
that I could list, but let
me start by saying, I'm very grateful

555
00:40:12.679 --> 00:40:17.679
for my health. I'm grateful that
I'm a strong, toned, healthy,

556
00:40:17.760 --> 00:40:22.400
fit, fifty three year old woman
who has a lot of energy and loves

557
00:40:22.440 --> 00:40:27.119
running around life. That's one thing
I'm very grateful for. I'm very grateful

558
00:40:27.199 --> 00:40:30.960
that I get to live my purpose. I'm doing the work that I'm supposed

559
00:40:30.960 --> 00:40:34.480
to be doing too, and it
wasn't always so. And I'm very very

560
00:40:34.480 --> 00:40:39.400
grateful for that. I every day
pinch myself. I'm grateful that I get

561
00:40:39.440 --> 00:40:44.079
in my work to be able to
literally watch people transform in front of my

562
00:40:44.079 --> 00:40:47.360
eyes as they come to understand themselves, come to a new higher level of

563
00:40:47.559 --> 00:40:54.639
understanding and perspective and performance of themselves. It's a precious thing to behold and

564
00:40:54.679 --> 00:41:00.000
to be part of and connected to. And I'm really really great for my

565
00:41:01.159 --> 00:41:06.440
network of friends who are very very
important to me and support me and cheer

566
00:41:06.519 --> 00:41:10.199
me and just have reached out and
said, hey, I had a great

567
00:41:10.199 --> 00:41:14.800
idea for you in your business today
here. It is grateful for all of

568
00:41:14.800 --> 00:41:17.920
that for me. That's it's such
a beautiful part of life to have all

569
00:41:17.960 --> 00:41:23.039
of that integrated support and connection for
me. What a great list, right,

570
00:41:23.199 --> 00:41:25.360
It's not so bad, like you
said, It's just not so bad.

571
00:41:25.639 --> 00:41:28.920
Yeah, who cares you have to
stand in line or your a bunion?

572
00:41:28.960 --> 00:41:30.960
Aches. I mean, that's a
gone good list. I think so

573
00:41:31.239 --> 00:41:36.159
too well. One of the things
I also wanted to get from you were

574
00:41:36.239 --> 00:41:38.679
getting closer on it at a time
on the show. But I would love

575
00:41:38.719 --> 00:41:43.239
it if you could share maybe a
story or two about a person that you've

576
00:41:43.320 --> 00:41:46.039
encountered in your work that has navigated
what you would consider to be a well

577
00:41:46.119 --> 00:41:55.000
lived life. Okay, there was
a man who always was at peace.

578
00:41:55.119 --> 00:42:00.920
He came in and he buried probably
five or six family members. Since I've

579
00:42:00.920 --> 00:42:05.800
been out here in my purposed go
bar and and boring Oregon for the last

580
00:42:05.840 --> 00:42:08.320
thirteen years, and I asked him
how he was so at peace, and

581
00:42:08.360 --> 00:42:13.800
he shared with me that every night
before he goes to bed, he sets

582
00:42:13.800 --> 00:42:21.079
aside about five minutes and he expresses
his thanks to the universe and to the

583
00:42:21.239 --> 00:42:23.559
wall, to the dog. He
just says it out loud there to the

584
00:42:23.599 --> 00:42:27.760
air of all the things he's really
thankful for. I guess that goes back

585
00:42:27.760 --> 00:42:32.519
to our gratitude conversation. He says
he used to write things down and just

586
00:42:34.079 --> 00:42:37.760
really be thankful for the things in
his life, but something about saying them,

587
00:42:37.800 --> 00:42:43.039
the physicality of hearing the words,
has really allowed him to realize how

588
00:42:43.079 --> 00:42:47.960
supported he is, and it's really
helped him train his brain to embrace gratitude.

589
00:42:49.239 --> 00:42:52.440
And he feels like that radiates through
all aspects of his life. And

590
00:42:52.519 --> 00:42:58.199
I think this man is onto something
because if you've lost six people in your

591
00:42:58.239 --> 00:43:04.599
life in thirteen years and you still
can walk around not being an angry person

592
00:43:05.239 --> 00:43:08.239
and not breaking down in tears constantly
in line at the post office, that's

593
00:43:08.280 --> 00:43:15.360
pretty fantastic. That's a life well
lived. Doesn't matter what he does for

594
00:43:15.400 --> 00:43:19.159
an income, it doesn't matter what
car he drives. This is a self

595
00:43:19.320 --> 00:43:22.800
actualized person who's doing the work.
Every night. He's putting in the time,

596
00:43:23.239 --> 00:43:28.119
just a mere five minutes to say, hey, universe, Hey you

597
00:43:28.280 --> 00:43:34.519
got my back. And even though
I miss my wife, I miss whomever,

598
00:43:35.000 --> 00:43:37.760
you know what, you're here for
me. And I still have those

599
00:43:37.800 --> 00:43:43.440
two eyes that are going to open
tomorrow morning when I get up. That's

600
00:43:43.519 --> 00:43:47.280
great. Another story, I think
they can go back to so many of

601
00:43:47.280 --> 00:43:52.639
the burials that I take care of. There was a young woman who was

602
00:43:52.719 --> 00:43:57.119
fighting breast cancer, and unfortunately,
I always hate to say the battle with

603
00:43:57.199 --> 00:44:00.559
cancer because well, you know,
you're you can't say you're really losing the

604
00:44:00.559 --> 00:44:06.440
battle because the battle probably you know, wasn't yours to win. It's just

605
00:44:06.599 --> 00:44:09.159
it's what happened, and it's kind
of what took you out of this area

606
00:44:09.239 --> 00:44:14.639
to transform you into something else.
But this young woman knew she was dying,

607
00:44:14.719 --> 00:44:15.960
and she didn't know when, but
she knew would be a slow,

608
00:44:16.039 --> 00:44:22.039
painful death. So she decided rather
than be upset about that or feel robbed

609
00:44:22.360 --> 00:44:27.960
that she was never going to probably
have a wonderful love of her life.

610
00:44:27.960 --> 00:44:30.920
She's probably not going to have children, She's never going to travel to Paris

611
00:44:31.000 --> 00:44:36.480
and do all these bucket list things
that people find important. Jumping out of

612
00:44:36.519 --> 00:44:42.360
an airplane, she decided she is
going to help somebody every day, and

613
00:44:42.920 --> 00:44:47.800
just from going through Twitter and writing
a note to somebody who she could tell

614
00:44:47.880 --> 00:44:52.719
could use a little pick me up, or learning names of kids who were

615
00:44:52.760 --> 00:44:57.880
staying at the Ronald McDonald house and
sending them postcards. I mean, what

616
00:44:58.000 --> 00:45:01.159
a life well lived. When this
purse was laid into the ground on her

617
00:45:01.159 --> 00:45:08.400
sister's property, every single person had
a story of how amazing Lucy was.

618
00:45:08.760 --> 00:45:13.920
I mean, how many people can
have a funeral where every single person can

619
00:45:14.000 --> 00:45:20.519
share another story about what wonderful things
you did just because your time on earth

620
00:45:20.599 --> 00:45:23.840
was limited and you thought you were
going to use that time wisely. It

621
00:45:23.920 --> 00:45:30.920
must be so interesting, Elizabeth to
consider the range of experiences that you register

622
00:45:30.079 --> 00:45:36.400
when you help people put to rest
their loved one. And I remember when

623
00:45:36.400 --> 00:45:39.039
my grandfather died and the number of
stories that people of how he had helped,

624
00:45:39.079 --> 00:45:43.840
and people I didn't even know that
he had helped, And it was

625
00:45:44.440 --> 00:45:49.800
really really beautiful to get to reminisces
and see how people wanted to pay their

626
00:45:49.840 --> 00:45:53.719
respects and just really enjoy the presence
of who he was to them. And

627
00:45:53.800 --> 00:45:58.840
that's why we get together and we
gather, and that's why we all hold

628
00:45:58.880 --> 00:46:01.440
hands and sing a song, or
we just sit in a room and eat

629
00:46:01.440 --> 00:46:06.400
donuts, because it matters. We're
all connected. If you look up in

630
00:46:06.440 --> 00:46:09.320
the sky you see stars, guess
what we all see. Those stars were

631
00:46:09.440 --> 00:46:14.840
all under one great moon, one
great heaven of stars. We are all

632
00:46:14.880 --> 00:46:19.880
connected. And so to keep that
going on the planet day and day out,

633
00:46:20.280 --> 00:46:24.280
it's really lovely. You know.
I have to tell you that I'm

634
00:46:24.320 --> 00:46:30.039
remembering that I did once years ago
when I was living in Portland and I

635
00:46:30.119 --> 00:46:31.960
was like, I think eighteen,
and I got I was looking for work

636
00:46:32.000 --> 00:46:37.639
and somebody, the company that was
trying to place me, said we've got

637
00:46:37.679 --> 00:46:39.719
something for you, and here's how
you get there, and they told me

638
00:46:39.719 --> 00:46:43.199
about all the all this, but
they didn't say anything about what the company

639
00:46:43.280 --> 00:46:45.159
was or what the job was.
I know where you're going. It was.

640
00:46:45.519 --> 00:46:50.320
It was a funeral home. I
go to meet this guy and he

641
00:46:51.119 --> 00:46:54.559
was your polar opposite, Elizabeth.
He was just exactly what you think of

642
00:46:55.199 --> 00:47:00.679
for a mortician. He had the
really you know, fish handship and you

643
00:47:00.719 --> 00:47:05.360
know, no life behind him and
and I said, this is just not

644
00:47:05.400 --> 00:47:07.559
going to be for me, and
I but thanks very much, and good

645
00:47:07.599 --> 00:47:09.840
luck filling this and I got the
heck out of there. So you you

646
00:47:09.920 --> 00:47:15.599
are just so beautifully a beautiful human
being, and it's it's been so wonderful

647
00:47:15.639 --> 00:47:20.599
to be able to share you with
my listeners and this being your calling and

648
00:47:21.079 --> 00:47:23.440
just how you're living your life.
And I just imagine that you're walking through

649
00:47:23.480 --> 00:47:28.039
and you've got like pixie dust that
you're spreading through the universe as oh my

650
00:47:28.119 --> 00:47:30.320
gosh, I love it. I'm
going to tweet that I love that.

651
00:47:30.480 --> 00:47:32.199
Thank you for that. That's what
you That's how you land for me.

652
00:47:32.320 --> 00:47:37.639
So I want to give you the
ability to close the show as you like,

653
00:47:37.800 --> 00:47:39.960
your last your last thoughts or maybe
you know, in the last say

654
00:47:40.079 --> 00:47:43.920
a one minute or so. What
would you like to leave our listeners with

655
00:47:44.000 --> 00:47:47.320
today. Well, if you do
have somebody in your life who's passing away

656
00:47:47.360 --> 00:47:51.519
and you're going through the stress of
that, please remember to drink water.

657
00:47:52.159 --> 00:47:54.679
I think it's so easy, but
we forget to do that. We forget

658
00:47:54.719 --> 00:47:58.760
that we're still here and we still
need to move our body and drink water.

659
00:47:59.159 --> 00:48:04.880
I cannot stars enough about being gentle
on yourself, and that just goes

660
00:48:04.960 --> 00:48:10.519
for daily things like having to take
a test, or having to sit in

661
00:48:10.599 --> 00:48:15.880
traffic, or going through the loss
of a loved one. Just be gentle

662
00:48:15.960 --> 00:48:19.199
on yourself. We are not kind
enough to each other, and we certainly

663
00:48:19.199 --> 00:48:22.599
are not kind enough to ourselves.
What a great way to finish and right

664
00:48:22.639 --> 00:48:28.000
before Thanksgiving. Elizabeth Fournier, thank
you so much for joining me on working

665
00:48:28.039 --> 00:48:31.119
on Purpose. You have been just
a delight. Thank you you as well,

666
00:48:31.159 --> 00:48:38.159
and may all of your recipes be
sumptuous, spatially and palatially. Let's

667
00:48:38.199 --> 00:48:43.360
hope so. And if you want
to learn more about Elizabeth Fournier Green Burial

668
00:48:43.480 --> 00:48:45.599
or the work she and her team
are doing at Cornerstone Funeral, visit their

669
00:48:45.599 --> 00:48:50.920
website. It's Cornerstone Funeral dot com. Join us next week when we talk

670
00:48:50.920 --> 00:48:54.440
with Angela Langlots, a trademark attorney, about how to monetize our great ideas.

671
00:48:54.880 --> 00:48:57.960
See you there. Remember that work
is at least a third of our

672
00:48:58.000 --> 00:49:04.679
life, so let's work on purpose. We hope you've enjoyed this week's program.

673
00:49:04.800 --> 00:49:07.440
Be sure to tune in to Working
on Purpose, featuring your host,

674
00:49:07.480 --> 00:49:13.760
Alice Cortez, each week on the
Voice America Empowerment Channel. This week,

675
00:49:14.119 --> 00:49:15.400
find your life's purpose at work.