Debra Phillips, Certified Life Celebrant

02/17/2026

Happy Lunar New Year! chúc mừng năm mới! Gong hei fat choy! #2026

02/16/2026

This is beautiful 💘

02/08/2026

So much of what makes a family strong is never written into laws or policies—it’s spoken (or left unspoken) around kitchen tables, in living rooms, and across generations.

We often wait until funerals to say the words that should have been shaping our families all along. But families don’t flourish on unspoken affection. They flourish when we choose to honor one another while we’re still here to hear it.

Say what could strengthen your family today. Bless your people now. Tell them who they are to you. Build the kind of family culture where love is spoken freely—and often.

This is how we rebuild a civilization of love, one household at a time.

01/24/2026

A New Year doesn’t automatically mean the feelings we held vanish. Our brain knows it’s a different date, but our hearts ignore the calendar. Regardless of the day, year, month, hour, hold space for your emotions, they’re valid 🤍 #2026

01/24/2026

Always advocate for your loved ones to be heard 🤍

01/21/2026

Life and my work have taught me some difficult and important lessons.

I would like to impart some of that wisdom to all of you so that YOUR loved ones are not struggling when (notice how I didn't say "if"), you die.

Even if your only asset is a bank account, you should have a Will

Fully execute a Will to include (but not limited to):
~This is the last Will and Testament of:
~List your full name and where you currently reside (city/province) and that you revoke all prior Wills and Codicils.
~Name the first individual you wish to be your Executor or Executrix
~Appoint a second person should person 1 not be able to fulfill their responsibilities as your Executor or Executrix
~List your beneficiaries
~List any special gifts or charitable donations
~Sign and date your will
~Have two people witness your signature and then have them sign and date their signatures (these should be neutral parties not listed as beneficiaries of the estate)
~Advise your Executor/Executor that you have completed your will, give them a photocopy of your Will and let them know where the original is kept.
Wills may be hand-written/typed, a lawyer is always recommended.

On a separate sheet of paper, list the following:
~My SIN # is:
~My AHC # is:
~My father’s full name/ place of birth
~My mother’s full name and maiden name/place of birth
~My driver's license or ID card number is:

Additional details:
~My birth certificate is located:
~My legal name change document is located:
~My adoption papers (if applicable) are located:
~My vehicle is insured with XYZ Company, list policy number and telephone number
~My residence is insured with XYZ Company, list policy number, telephone number
~My land title document is located:
~My passport is located:
~I have a safety deposit box at XYZ bank:
(advise your executor/executrix where the key is located:
~I bank with the following institutions (do not include account details):
~I have Credit Cards with the following institutions (do not include card numbers):
~I have a life insurance policy with XYZ company
~I have private health insurance with XYZ company
~I have investments with XYZ bank or Wealth Management (do not list values or account numbers)
~ My marriage licence is located:
~I have a pre-need agreement with XYZ Funeral home

Disposition:
Option 1 - I wish to be cremated.
~Once my cremation is complete, I wish my cremated remains to be scattered at XYZ location or interred in XYZ cemetery. If you have pre-purchased a cemetery plot, niche or columbarium, include a copy of the purchase agreement.
~If you wish your cremated remains to be taken to a different province or country, ensure your Estate has sufficient funds to pay the cost of fulfilling your wishes.

Option 2 - I wish my body to be buried
~I wish to be buried at "XYZ" cemetery, located in City/Province.
If you have pre-purchased a cemetery plot, or mausoleum, include a copy of the purchase agreement.

Give a copy these documents to your Executor and/or next of kin responsible/involved in making your funeral/cremation arrangements.

If you have written a Pre-Need Purchase Agreement with a licensed Pre-Need Specialist, advise your Executor and/or your next-of-kin of the Funeral Home. If you reside in a care facility, ensure XYZ Facility is aware which funeral home holds your preneed arrangements.

This is not a complete list of items necessary for your loved ones/Executor to know, but it's a very basic beginning.

If you do not have a safety deposit box, ensure your important documents are kept in a firesafe/waterproof lock box (I purchased mine at Canadian Tire) and advise your Executor and/or next-of-kin its location and where the keys are kept). If you do not have a locked box, a great place is in a plastic container or Ziploc bag in your freezer (waterproof and fire-safe).

I respect superstition. Please know that detailing these items and having a Will does not hasten your death. It is similar to an insurance policy - no one ever wants to use it, but it sure is great to have when needed!

If you have questions, please do not hesitate to send me a message or call me - there is no such thing as a silly question!

Please drop a ❤️ in the comments if this is helpful to you.

01/20/2026

The Winter of Grief: What Lies Beneath

Grief feels like winter.
It arrives without warning,
a thinning of the light,
a chill that seeps into the bones.

The world grows muted,
stripped down to what is essential.
Laughter sounds distant.
Time slows.
Even breath feels heavier.

In winter, everything appears dormant.
The ground hardens.
What once bloomed with ease
now seems almost inconceivable.

Grief does this too.
It convinces us that life we once trusted
has disappeared,
that color has drained from our lives,
that what was lost
is gone forever.

But beneath the frozen surface,
something is still alive.
Hidden under the cold soil
is a seed, small and patient.

It carries the memory of what once was
and the quiet promise
of what might still be.

Grief, when allowed to exist
without being hurried or denied,
shelters this seed.

Every tear is moisture.
Every remembered laugh,
every ache of longing,
every time you say their name aloud
becomes an act of tending.

Nurturing this seed
does not mean forgetting the winter.
It means honoring it.

You return to the memories
not to reopen old wounds,
but to shield them from the cold.

You tell the stories again,
even when your voice shakes.
You let the love
that once had a place to go
move through you instead.

In doing so,
you keep the ground
from becoming barren.

Spring does not arrive all at once.
It never does.
It begins with the smallest signs:
a softening,
a brief moment of ease,
the realization
that pain no longer fills
every corner of the day.

One day you breathe
without bracing yourself.
Another day,
you smile without guilt.

These are not betrayals of loss;
they are proof
that love is still working
its way toward the light.

The seed does not replace
what was lost.
It grows because of it.
It carries memory in its roots
and tenderness in its leaves.

What emerges
is not the same life as before,
but a life shaped by remembrance,
deeper,
more fragile,
more honest.

Grief is like winter, yes.
But winter is not the end of the story.
Beneath the cold,
something waits.

And when you care for it,
when you allow yourself
to remember,
to ache,
to love still,
it will sprout,
because love
never truly disappears.

~ 'The Winter of Grief: What Lies Beneath' by Spirit of a Hippie

✍️ Mary Anne Byrne

~ Art by Lina Silina

12/27/2025

Wishing that hope shows up for you 🤍

12/21/2025

12/21/2025

Tell their stories and their jokes 💙