We are living in dark times. As a man of 66, I can say that much of my life has seen “dark times”. I remember as a little boy, looking at a photo of an elephant mutilated by poachers. I
BLIPS at the Edinburgh Fringe
BLIPS – Brief Limited Intermittent Psychotic Symptoms. If these episodes are a part of your own life, how might you explain them to other people? Well, you could download an article from a medical journal. You could just describe your
Michael Hannah MSc (Glasgow)
Back in 2020 I enrolled on a masters degree at the University of Glasgow. I’d wanted to return to study when I turned 60, and I discovered that Glasgow was offering a new qualification in End of Life Studies that
Always carry a towel in the car…..
On Tuesday 2nd of January 2024 I set off to conduct a family visit. This is the meeting that a celebrant has with a bereaved family to plan the funeral and it’s usually a central part of the process of
Silent Teachers – Anatomy in Edinburgh
Back in 2019 I wrote about anatomy and body donations at the University of Dundee. How the people who donate their bodies are known as “silent teachers“. It’s a subject of great personal interest because my father donated his body
2022
As for so many people, last year was a strange one for me. There were some significant achievements. For instance, I started my masters course in End of Life Studies at Glasgow University and it has gone very well. It’s
Travels in my Honda e
Usually I use this blog for my work but from time to time I do post more personal things. I just took a short break, visiting my good friends Paul and Avi who live in a small village in Co
Back to school!
This week I started a Masters course at the University of Glasgow. The course is run by the End of Life Studies Group and is a completely online part-time course that will last for about three years. It’s very exciting
Welcoming 2021
Just a very short blog to say Happy New Year to everyone. In particular my fellow celebrants and the funeral directors I work with. I am looking forward to starting this year – with a few new projects on the
Eddie Small
Some sad news this week. I heard that my good friend and mentor, Eddie Small, had died. We first met in about 2009, not long after I moved back to Scotland. We did keep in touch but it was only
Faded rose from days gone by
My good friend, Paul Connell, is a photographer based in Dublin. During lockdown he found that the nearest open place he could walk in and get a bit of fresh air – without having to dodge joggers and cyclists –
Mike and Florence Crook
When I lived in London, one of my good friends was a man called Mike Crook. We’d got to know each other through work and, after we both turned freelance in about 2000, we started to meet regularly. One of