Hi there,
This is my first time post so please bear with me.
Sadly, my Dad passed away suddenly nearly six weeks ago after suffering a massive hemorrhagic stroke due to a large bleed on the left hand side of his brain caused:/contributed by being on blood thinning medication. He was 70. I am an only child and have been trying to support my Mom with getting things done where possible as I know it is also hard for her becoming a widow.
Last Wednesday was my Dad’s funeral. It was at a local crematorium. I said I wanted to speak at his funeral and just share my own memories and funny things that people have told me about him. I do teach adults so used to standing up in front of people, so all I was worried about was actually being able to speak without breaking down in tears, which I managed to do. Aside from a little bit of nerves I was absolutely fine (but I purposely left out saying how much I loved and missed him as that is what gets me crying). I had so many remarks from people saying that my speech was good, I did well and how he would have been proud of me, so I felt proud too.
However, since the funeral it has got me wondering about what it would be like working in this industry. I don’t mean doing roles such as “back of house” but more the funeral celebrant side of things. My profession is a Lead Tutor and teach adults, so have had years of experience speaking in front of a group of people, and even did a speech at mine and my Husband’s wedding, so standing up to speak to others I am kind of used to. I have to plan lessons and prepare resources for work, so I am used to planning a lesson, so the skills there would be similar to planning a eulogy and/or a service, I talk to learners and colleagues, sometimes sensitive conversations and have compassion as well as being a good listener, so feel I have some skills that could be transferable.
I was just wondering if anyone has had experience in this area or found that they sort of found a calling like this? If anyone has done this kind of work how did you go about it, what is a day in the life and is it a good profession to go in to? What puts me off is that from research it appears that celebrants are generally self-employed so fear that it is a bit hit and miss earning a good, consistent wage. I am happy with my job but it was something that had kind of made me curious as to what it was like and then how feasible it would be to look into it for a career change.