Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains frank discussion of dead bodies, cremation, and death.

Caitlin Doughty’s approach to death is quite different from mainstream North American culture. In what ways does Doughty’s death philosophy contrast with mainstream norms? How is Doughty’s approach different from your own experiences with death?

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes describes several kinds of funeral practices, including cremation, embalming, natural burial, sky burial, and more. Choose two or more of these practices, and analyze them from a psychological, philosophical, spiritual, or environmental perspective. What are the benefits and drawbacks of each practice?

In this video, Doughty describes the importance of having a death plan in place, both as a practical matter and as a way to move toward death acceptance. Create your own death plan based on what you would like to have happen to your body after your death.