Scott Burnam

I'm halfway through reading "Still Here" by Ram Dass. It's a different and complementary flavor to what I've read so far as I lean into this work, and I'm really enjoying it. The part that's stuck with me so far is this fallible but optimistic argument: 🧵 1/3

"To be here for fifty to eighty years only to be annihilated at the end just doesn't make sense. Nothing else in the universe is that inefficient. We have to be here to learn; otherwise our difficulties are truly meaningless." 2/3

1/2 Today is Pregnancy & Infant Loss Remembrance Day. 🕯️ And at 7:00 PM local time, the Wave of Light honors these losses that are too often carried in silence as disenfranchised grief. Your grief is real, your loss matters, and you are not alone. 🤍 🧵 #WaveOfLight #DisenfranchisedGrief

Midway through LGBTQIA2S+ History Month, a vital reminder: hospitals don't recognize chosen family by default. In a medical crisis, state laws grant decision-making authority strictly to biological kin—legally locking out unmarried partners and trusted loved ones. 🧵 #LGBTQHistoryMonth

The national conversation around end-of-life care is shifting. It was deeply validating to hear NPR's recent segment on the rising demand for death doulas. People are realizing that dying doesn't have to be a strictly clinical, isolating experience. 🧵 #DeathDoula #EndOfLifeCare #DeathPositivity

The Giver (a staple in our Little Free Library) remains frequently challenged for confronting hard truths: memory, pain, and mortality. In eliminating suffering, its world sanitized death into "Release," erasing grief, love, and choice. 🧵 1/2 #BannedBooksWeek #TheGiver #BookSky

My work as a doula is anchored in the belief that choice equals dignity. Sanitizing mortality protects no one. Honoring every story means holding space for the "awkward choreography of being a human." as @alokvmenon.bsky.social once shared. 🤍 2/2 #DeathDoula #BannedBooksWeek #DeathPositivity

"Lived experiences heard: real voices, real change" is the theme for this year's World Mental Health Day. Take a moment to inventory one thing about your life you want others to know or remember after you're gone from this earth. 🌎️ #deathpositive #WorldMentalHealthDay

Toni Morrison's 'Beloved' remains one of the most challenged books in America, yet its exploration of ancestral grief & historical trauma is unmatched. Grief isn't just individual. It lingers and moves through generations. 🧵 1/2 #BannedBooks #DeathDoula #Grief

Grief isn't always quiet—sometimes sudden trauma demands a movement. Angie Thomas' 'The Hate U Give' centers on the sudden loss of a Black teenager & how a community mourns through collective trauma. 🧵 1/2 #BannedBooks #DeathDoula #Grief

Today's 2nd #BannedBooksWeek highlight: "More Happy Than Not", also by Adam Silvera. 🤍. It deeply explores disenfranchised grief: suicide loss, closeted heartbreak, and the urge to erase trauma. Banning books like this doesn't protect readers; it just isolates those carrying unspeakable pain.

Today's first of two #BannedBooksWeek highlights: "They Both Die at the End" by Adam Silvera. 📖 I love that this is on @en3myp1nkk.bsky.social annual reading list! Following two queer teens on their last day, it shows how facing mortality forces us to live with total authenticity. 🧵 1/2

Post 1/3 For #BannedBooksWeek, I'll share titles that are often banned because their content presents inconvenient truths about death, dying, and grief. Starting us off, I'm nostalgic to share the most impactful book of my young life: "Bridge to Terabithia" by Katherine Paterson. 🌿🧵

Post 2/3 I remember that I had just turned 9 when my grandfather bought it for me on a visit to a small, local bookstore. Reading it moved me in a way I hadn't yet learned a book could, or that I even had words for at the time #BannedBooksWeek #DeathDoula #GriefSupport

Post 1/2 In Arizona, green burials skip embalming fluids and vaults, allowing bodies to naturally return to the earth. But that's not the only eco-option available to us here. 🧵 #greenburial

Post 1/3 October is around the corner and that means new space for pro bono work is available! If you or someone you love needs a little extra professional support right now, I can help. AND - all these services work well as online meetings, so you don't even need to be in/near Phoenix! 🧵👇

Post 2/3 I can give away exactly ONE of each of these services this month: If you or someone you know will be passing: 📋 1x Planning Session 🌳 1x Legacy Project Support Session If you and others have recently suffered a loss: 🤝 1x Family Support Session #ProBono #DeathDoula #EndOfLife

Post 1/2 So to recap: disenfranchised grief is real. It matters to name it because its pain is often compounded by a lack of validation. The grieving person doesn't just lose something or someone; they also lose access to the rituals, support systems, and social permission that help them heal.🧵

Not all grief gets a card, flowers, or a funeral. Disenfranchised grief happens when society doesn't recognize or validate your loss, leaving you to mourn in silence. Your pain is real, even when the world doesn't name it. 🧵 1/3 #disenfranchisedgrief #griefsupport #deathdoula

What does disenfranchised grief look like? • Loss of chosen family or non-traditional partners • Miscarriage or pregnancy loss • Death of an ex, friend, or estranged relative • Pet loss • Loss of health, identity, or safety. Every type of loss deserves space to be felt. 2/3 #grief #lgbtq