Where the practical and emotional meet in a conversation about life and death

Susanne LJ Westergren and Barbro Ohlson Smith come from completely different backgrounds but have found a common passion in opening up conversations about life's last journey. Where Susanne, with a, Barbro. Together they have created a platform where their complementary perspectives can meet and enrich each other.

Susanne: Think more about death and enjoy life

With a background as a nurse, and with experiences in hospice and emergency departments, Susanne has been close to both the beginning and the end of her life early on. In the middle of her life, she chose to train as a journalist with a focus on science and health. When she herself suffered bereavement in the family, she felt that she lacked both the knowledge and practical tools to deal with all that comes with death and grief. From that experience, the book grew The Art of Caring for an Estate ahead, and then the TV show on SVT Todo estado, in which the complex and often emotionally charged situations arising from a succession are portrayed.

For Susanne, practicality often becomes a way into the difficult, sorting, structuring and arranging. At the same time, she describes how she needs and longs to face the emotional deeper, and how order can sometimes become a refuge.

“For me, there is a spirituality that always accompanies every existence. I can see a soul in something as small as a bumblebee, and I carry care for every life, no matter how small,” after all, we are all part of a huge whole.”

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Barbro: Designing the end

Barbro Ohlson Smith has a long background as a designer with a focus on identity and expression. Quando ha iniziato il podcast My death, my funeral it was to explore whether the same ideas about form and form could be applied to the end of life. She saw how many funerals followed a template and wondered if it was possible to create more personal farewells.

For more than fifty podcasts, Barbro.

“It has changed the way I look at the meaning of life and made me even more value living in the present, being present and taking advantage of relationships,” says Barbro about working on the podcast. Huh, and

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The meeting point: the YouTube channel

When Susanne and Barbro found each other, a common idea emerged: to create a new forum where their different perspectives could meet. The result was a series on YouTube; How does it work - death, life and grief, which has recently been launched. vi. Also, how we can plan for the inevitable death of our own and those of our relatives is a topic that will be included in their productions.

Fact that they choose to broaden their collaboration with YouTube is because they want to reach out to younger generations. Moving media offers new possibilities for purely practical demonstration of how things work and not just tell about it. He, Jocke Wiik, sound engineer and film,.

Together they want to make it easier for us as a society to talk about death; not to set rules, but to dare to reflect, share experiences and perhaps find new ways to value life.

Ahead: more forums for talks

Both Susanne and Barbro see a continued need to create space for existential conversations. Through podcasts, books and now also the video format, they find different ways to reach out to more people. Needed for forums that open up conversations about death remains and Susanne and Barbro are far from finished.

Listen to Barbro's podcast My death, my funeral Aqui
Win YouTube Channel How does it work - death, life and grief Aqui

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Rest in Peace — When Dignity Becomes the Last Expression of Care

When Victoria Wickman first came into contact with the work around the final afterlife, she saw something that touched her deeply. Despite a great deal of involvement in the industry, the care of the deceased was often characterized by procedures that were mechanical and lacked the care that people deserve, both in respect for the departed and for those who remain.

With a background as a political scientist and many years in the public sector, Victoria trained as an undertaker. During her internship, it became clear to her how much a dignified presentation of the body means to relatives. She describes herself as simple and human:

I don't want my relatives to see me in an undignified condition, and I don't want to leave them with that image. '

Her Company, Rest in Peace, is today is one of the few in Sweden offering advanced post-mortem cosmetics and reconstruction. By restoring damage and giving the body the most dignified appearance possible, Victoria creates the opportunity for relatives to say goodbye in a way that feels safe, respectful and healing.

Caring beyond the visible

For Victoria, the work isn't just about technology and cosmetics, it's about people's last impressions of someone they loved. In cases where injuries make it difficult to say goodbye, her contribution can be decisive in determining whether relatives dare and have the courage to take a personal farewell from the deceased, which can be crucial in grief processing.

She has seen how forgone goodbyes deepen grief, and how dignified care can provide comfort when everything else is heavy. Therefore, Victoria bears a clear motto:

“Everyone who wishes should be able to say a dignified farewell. Everyone deserves a dignified end.”

A Work Grounded in Respect

Resting in Peace is based on a value foundation where care, quality and discretion in every moment and all work is done by Victoria. In an industry where physical care after death often falls into the dark, Victoria has created a path that puts the human at the center, even when life is over.

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Anna Christoffersson on the power of music in personal farewells

When someone passes away, a notion often arises that a funeral must follow fixed frameworks. But the parting can be as unique as the life that the person leaves behind. There is a great scope to shape ceremonies that reflect the person, the relationships and all that is carried on.

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Today, more and more families seek farewells that feel close and meaningful, where the tone, the words and the place together create a memory to rest in. In the process, music has become a central companion. It expresses what may be hard to say, but easy to feel.

“I sometimes think of funerals as a kind of tribute concert,” says artist and officiant Anna Christoffersson and continues: “People's lives are worth highlighting. When we do something beautiful together, it becomes a gift to those who are left behind.”

Music — a common place to meet

Music can carry memories of a lifetime. It invites presence in a moment that often holds both missing and stillness, and it unites people with different experiences and feelings.

It is also something that many relatives testify to. A person who hired Anna put it this way:

“Experience from a funeral: Anna and her fellow musicians showed an incredibly good musical performance. I know that they are all famous musicians with great CVs, but at least I want to say that this was one of the best things I have experienced on such an occasion. Astonishing singing, lovely piano playing, what an amazing tone in the trumpet.. all so subtle and beautiful, couldn't get any better for our dear friend's funeral.“ Customer about Anna at Trustpilot

For many, music becomes a bridge between silence and what needs to be said, between grief and everything that lives on in the heart. Musique crire un movimento, una dirección y una seguridad para restar

From Grammy nominations to ceremonial work

Anna has lived with music throughout her professional life and is a multiple Grammy nominee in jazz. Quando è studiato come un attore funerale, la sua artistry took on a new dimension: creating experiences that provide support, warmth and meaning in one of life's most vulnerable moments.

“I have always created whole things, both concerts, events, ceremonies. In this work, music becomes a tool that makes a real difference for people.”

In meeting with families, she uses both her voice and her feeling to shape the context. Sometimes she leads the whole ceremony, sometimes she contributes solely to the music. The shape is always adapted to the person who passed away and to those who gather to remember.

Parting that feels personal and cohesive

A personal farewell is about more than music. It's about how the whole moment gets to shape the rhythm, the pauses, the stories and the presence.

Regardless of how the ceremony is set up, the goal is the same: to create a safe place where people are allowed to be together, without demands, with room for both tears and gratitude.

When a ceremony is thought out and shaped after the people attending, it can provide support long afterwards. When parting becomes personal, it often becomes a memory to hold on to, where the music helps to carry both the grief and all that is left to live on.

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