How Death Doulas Help Us Live Lighter with Karen Callahan & Jen TadjedinHow Death Doulas Help Us Live Lighter with Karen Callahan & Jen Tadjedin
Cracking Open with Molly Carroll
Death doulas Karen Callahan and Jen Tajedin talk with Molly Carroll about grief, end-of-life planning and how facing mortality can change how you live. The conversation blends personal stories, practical tools and emotional honesty to help make death feel less heavy and more human.
1:00:51•3 Sept 2026
Living Lighter by Facing Death: Death Doulas, Grief and Peace of Mind
Episode Overview
- Talking openly about death can lighten its weight and bring more perspective, gratitude and appreciation into everyday life.
- Advance directives matter, but honest conversations about values and wishes with your medical proxy and family are even more important.
- Creating a clear "life file" of passwords, accounts and key documents is a practical gift to those left behind during an already painful time.
- Reflecting on how you want to die often reshapes how you want to live, prompting more intentional choices about relationships and lifestyle.
- Each person’s death is their own; even if you disagree with a loved one’s end-of-life choices, your role is to support them while trusting you’ll make your own decisions in your time.
“"Be brave and know that reflecting on mortality and accepting mortality can really help you live a more intentional and loving life."”
What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol, fear, or denial around death? This conversation with death doulas Karen Callahan and Jen Tajedin takes on grief and mortality with a mix of tenderness, practicality, and surprising lightness. Aimed at people who are grieving, supporting someone at the end of life, or simply curious about facing death more honestly, the episode breaks down what a death doula actually does.
Karen calls it a "non-medical role" that can range from helping with paperwork and advance directives to sitting at the bedside and guiding families through the final days.
Jen shares how a hospice training and caring for her uncle in his last week of life showed her "there are so many ways that we can make death more beautiful for people." You’ll hear how both women were pulled into this work after losing parents and loved ones, and how those losses exposed how unprepared most people are.
They talk about their "peace of mind" workshops, where people create a "life file" of passwords, accounts and wishes, choose medical proxies, and even think about their obituary. One couple left midway through the course to finally move to San Diego after years of talking about it – a clear sign that reflecting on death can reshape how you live.
Molly threads in her own stories of losing both parents and trying to keep life going with young kids and a busy career, asking hard questions many in recovery will relate to: How do you function when grief knocks you flat? How do you support someone whose choices about dying you might not agree with?
By the end, the conversation keeps circling back to love, values, and presence – and to the simple reminder, as Karen puts it, to "be brave" in reflecting on mortality so you can live with more intention. What would change for you if you truly accepted that time is finite?
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