Julie Weston - Funeral & Memorial Celebrant

06/03/2026

It's been such an honour working with familes over the years to farewell and celebrate their loved ones. I'm delighted to be moving on to a new 'season' in my life to explore what comes next. Take care everyone!

18/10/2025

This is a great article. I trained with Zenith some years ago - it was an amazing experience and has helped me to shape funeral and memorial ceremonies in such a deep and heartfelt way.

I hope you find this an interesting read.

For many, voluntary assisted dying has come to symbolise control over how life ends. Yet dying well isn't just about those final hours. That's where a deathwalker like Zenith can help.

05/09/2025

For anyone who needs to take a couple of minutes to centre and balance - try this 5 minute reset.

When life feels loud, this Instant Calm yoga practice offers a gentle reset.

18/07/2025

Melbourne peeps - do you have your tickets yet? I’m so excited to be going to Melbourne to see Sophie play Sunday 27 July!

Tomorrow (Friday 18th July) the soloist for AO's Sunday 27th July Brahms Symphony No. 1 concert, flautist Sophie Susan Weston, will appear in 2x radio interviews on Golden Days Radio and 3MBSFM!!

Many thanks to interviewers Ian McLeod and Julie Houghton for these segments🙏

10.15am (GMT+10) = Golden Days Radio interview
https://goldendaysradio.com/gdr-streaming-player/

4.15pm (GMT+10) = 3MBS FM Melbourne
https://www.3mbs.org.au/

Concert booking and other details are below.

AO's July 27th BRAHMS SYMPHONY No. 1 CONCERT

Sunday 27th July 2025 concert, at 2pm
At: James Tatoulis Auditorium
Methodist Ladies’ College (MLC),
207 Barkers Road, Kew, Vic.

CONCERT REPERTOIRE:
Brahms - Symphony No. 1
Rossini - William Tell Overture
Machlak - FG (Fog)
Chaminade - Concertino for flute & orchestra
Sophie Weston, flute soloist
BOOKING is HIGHLY recommended, but tickets are also available at the door.

For TICKET BOOKINGS & ACCESSIBILITY Info. visit: www.trybooking.com/DANIJ

AO website: www.australasianorchestra.com
Concert Facebook Event page: https://www.facebook.com/share/18voP3nZiv/
AO email (for enquiries): australasianorchestra@gmail.com

27/07/2024

This will be a wonderful session. Are you dying to know? Get along and get informed! It’s being held by some amazing folks. Unfortunately I’ll be away or I’d be there!

🌟 Mark Your Calendars for Dying to Know Day! 🌟

We’re excited to invite you to a special Dying to Know Day event on Thursday, 8th August 2024. This free community gathering is all about opening up important conversations around death, dying, and bereavement. Let’s come together to learn, share, and support each other in a safe and welcoming space.

Join us at The President's Room, Dolphins Rugby League Club in Redcliffe for a panel discussion featuring experts on:
Palliative Care
Grief
Death Doulas
Wills & Estates
Funeral Arrangements
Writing your own Eulogy

🗓 Date: Thursday, 8th August 2024
📍 Venue: The President's Room, Dolphins Rugby League Club, Cnr Ashmole & Klingner Rds, Redcliffe
⏰ Time: Arrive from 9:30am for a 10:00am start, with the event concluding at 12:00 noon

This is a unique opportunity to gain valuable insights, ask questions, and engage with a community that cares about making end-of-life planning less daunting and more empowering.

Spaces are limited, so be sure to reserve your spot today! Click the link in our bio to register or the ticket link below. We look forward to seeing you there and starting this crucial conversation together. 💬

05/04/2024

Wise words indeed

If you think you should go to the funeral, you probably should, even if you didn't know the person directly.

At the reception after my dad's funeral, a woman I didn't recognize came up and introduced herself to me. It turns out that she was the daughter of a dear friend and colleague of my dad's from decades earlier.

I had never met the woman, or her father, although when she told me his name, I knew exactly who he was. I had grown up hearing stories about him.

The woman's father had died 20 years earlier, but she'd seen the obituary, and recognized my dad's name the same way I recognized her father's. She took the afternoon off work, and came to my dad's funeral, on her father's behalf, to honour the depth of the friendship between these two men, both now dead.

We hugged each other and cried. We cried for fathers, for friendship, and for the village-making beauty of a funeral.

Why her coming mattered to me is almost impossible to put into words. It's a truth that lives in the realm of symbolic soul reality, not logical, linear, material reality. That's the heart-and-soul part of dying, the part that's made real by participation in ritual.

20/02/2024

Beautiful words…..

I had a friend who was very much in denial that she was going to die of cancer. I said to her, “Come on, you have got to make friends with death. Poor death, nobody likes him. They are all trying to avoid him. He is given a very bad press. But actually he is really very compassionate, so kindly make friends. Embrace him, and say, ‘Hello, what can you teach me!”

To her credit, she was very happy about the advice. She laughed and laughed and said, “Yes you are right, I have been avoiding and hating death, and I have to actually embrace and make friends with death.” After that, with her own thinking about it, meditating and reading about it, she began to recognise that we can make friends with the fact that we have to go.

Accepting death doesn’t hasten its arrival, but it means that when we do come to that point, we are not afraid, resisting and fighting — we are relaxing, accepting and letting go. Then our death becomes something beautiful and peaceful, not only benefiting ourselves but all those around us.

- Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo

Photo: Jetsunma in a warm embrace, smiling peacefully (2009)

17/02/2024

Love this ….

✨

14/01/2024

I’m all for a natural burial. I Love this article. What’s your burial vibe?

Books, boxes and knick-knacks might be stored in your spare room, but in Mary Flynn's home studio is a wooden coffin, which she made herself. She's never been frightened of death and wants to spark conversations about natural burials.

09/01/2024

I love this idea of a living wake.

As John Gilius's partner came closer to dying from terminal cancer, the couple decided to mark the event in a very special, and very joyous, way.

02/01/2024

Death by su***de leaves so many questions and often no answers. Take care, step lightly and be kind to yourself.

We never know what someone is going through. Remember to be kind. My New Year's resolution is to be more patient with people.
Kl 🐻

01/01/2024

Beautiful words……

𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐤

From 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭, 𝐌𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐥