Biography
Biography: Jolene Hill
Abstract
Life is a balance of holding on and letting go. We talk about the weather, our weekend, sports and our holidays with ease….so why is it so difficult to talk about our life’s journey and our end of life wishes? It is natural for us to want to downplay our importance, and avoid burdening those closest to us with our wishes. However if you are not prepared, you may find yourself in a situation that could be chaotic and stressful for you and the people you care about. This often leads to well meaning people making decisions on your behalf that are not based on what’s important to you or your family.
What most people need is a reason or a little bit of encouragement to kickstart
these conversations.
In her signature talk, Life’s short...so let’s talk, Jolene shares her experiences as a full time carer for her husband when he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. She discusses the difficulties her family faced in providing both physical and emotional care during this time, and having to initiate a conversation with him about his end of life wishes. With this knowledge and her background as a Funeral Director, she was inspired to create Your Life Talks, with a mission to raise community awareness of the importance of initiating meaningful conversations within families regarding putting your affairs in order and end of life wishes. Her innovative Conversation Starter cards, ‘Your Life Story’ and ‘Your Life Wishes’ have been embraced by the community as an ideal way to assist families with kick-starting these conversations.