How Can Embracing Mortality Help Us Live More Fully?
“Death involves everyone,” says Ivor Williams. “Design accordingly.”
This line from my conversation with this week’s Fearless Forward guest sums up his life’s work.
Many wisdom traditions and indigenous cultures treat awareness of mortality as a way into deeper consciousness. In the West, we tend to do the opposite: often pushing the subject away until it becomes urgent. But by that time it may be too late to do and say things that really matter.
Ivor is a death care design consultant offering us a different way of looking at our own mortality. As he sees it, mortality awareness is a uniquely human trait which can sharpen our appreciation of life and help us live with more intention and joy.
His own path to this work was far from linear. After art college, he spent ten years on a wide range of design projects and won multiple awards. Then a year-long residency for young creatives at a design research centre in Italy changed the direction of his career.
Working on experimental projects about death and dying, he found his vocation. He went on to found one of the first design studios dedicated to rethinking how we experience the end of life.
In the twelve years since, his work has included long-term projects with hospices and co-founding Humane Engineering, a tech-for-good mental health start-up. Its app, Cove, was one of the first available on the UK’s National Health Service and has been used worldwide.
But our conversation, as you might expect, is less about his achievements and more about the person behind them. We talk about how Ivor’s own life has shaped his work, and what led him to create Mortals, an online community and group programme.
Facing mortality alone can feel overwhelming. Mortals offers a safe space to explore it together, as a way of living more fully.
If you’re curious to learn more about this enlivening perspective on death, I’d encourage you to listen in.
Highlights:
- [00:00:16] Introduction to Ivor Williams
- [00:02:14] Mortality Awareness and Joyful Living
- [00:03:58] The “Mortals” Program
- [00:06:40] The Vividness of Life Near Death
- [00:07:50] Ivor’s Journey and Upbringing
- [00:09:58] Early Experiences with Loss
- [00:12:48] Turning Towards Grief
- [00:13:57] The Aftermath of a Friend’s Death
- [00:17:41] Following Feelings and Intuition
- [00:21:25] Designing for Palliative Care
- [00:25:26] The Power of Group Work
- [00:27:26] Leaving Nothing on the Table
- [00:29:14] Intergenerational Trauma and Family History
- [00:33:20] The Concept of “Living Practice”
- [00:36:24] Self-Care and Finding Rejuvenation
- [00:38:45] What “Fearless Forward” Means
- [00:39:58] Episode Outro and Reflection
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