Death comes for all of us, prepared or not. With a little forethought, we can decide for ourselves how we’re remembered.
When someone dies without having documented their wishes, their values, or their story, the people who loved them are left making consequential decisions in the middle of grief. What should be said at the memorial? Who gets the unfinished manuscript? What did they actually believe, and what did they want carried forward?
Heartwood Legacy guides individuals, families, and small groups through end of life preparation while there is still time to approach it with care. Legacy letters, ethical wills, and future messages give people a way to speak for themselves, in their own voice, on their own terms. Creative estate planning helps artists and makers decide what happens to their work, their rights, and their unfinished projects.
This work also belongs to people navigating memory loss, or loving someone who is. Alzheimer’s disease and dementia begin their erasure long before death arrives. Documenting identity, values, relationships, and story while memory is intact is one of the most meaningful things a person can do for themselves and for the people who will care for them.
We work with particular attention to elders, artists, queer and disabled individuals, and anyone whose chosen family and true identity deserve to be part of the record.
Death is certain. Memory is shaped. Preserve your voice.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to be dying to do this?
Not at all. This work is most powerful when it isn’t urgent. Legacy preparation, identity documentation, and creative estate planning are things anyone can benefit from at any stage of life — healthy, ill, young, or elder. The people who find this work most meaningful are often those who simply want to be intentional about what they leave behind, long before any crisis makes that conversation necessary.
How is this different from working with a death doula?
Death doulas primarily provide presence, comfort, and practical support during the active dying process and its immediate aftermath. That is sacred and necessary work. Heartwood Legacy centers something different: voice, documentation, and the written or recorded expressions of a life.
But the distinction goes deeper than format. This work is not only for the dying or the bereaved. Facing mortality honestly — putting language to what we value, what we want carried forward, and who we want to be remembered as — is a practice that transforms the experience of living. People who do this work report a sharpened sense of what matters, a deeper connection to the people they love, and a more conscious relationship with the time they have. Legacy preparation is an act of mindfulness as much as it is an act of planning.
A death doula and Heartwood Legacy can complement each other beautifully. They are not the same thing.
Is this therapy?
This work is not therapy and is not a substitute for it. What it is: guided reflection, intentional writing, and supported conversation in a space built for honesty. Some of what comes up may be emotional, and that is welcomed, but the goal is documentation and preparation, not treatment.
Is this religious or spiritual in nature?
This work is not religious. It is also not hostile to spirituality. Participants bring their own frameworks — faith traditions, spiritual practices, secular worldviews — and those are honored within the work. Sessions and workshops are designed to hold whatever you bring without imposing any particular belief system.
I’m not a writer. Can I still participate?
Yes. Writing is one of the tools we use, but it is not a requirement or a measure of anything. People participate through conversation, recording, and other forms of expression. What matters is that your voice is preserved in a way that feels true to you.
What kinds of workshops and sessions are available?
Heartwood Legacy offers one-on-one sessions, small group workshops, and retreats, available both in person and virtually. Workshops cover a range of topics including legacy letters, ethical wills, future messages, and creative estate planning for artists and makers. More offerings are in development. Join the newsletter to hear when new workshops are announced.
What does this cost?
Educational workshops begin at $30 per person. Document workshops are priced at $75 per document developed. One-on-one sessions begin at $300 and include an email prep session, a one-hour virtual or in-person session, and a delivery call, plus $75 per document created. Retreats begin at $1,200 and are all-inclusive. Ebooks are priced at $30. A community sponsorship fund is available for those who need financial support — ask about it when you reach out.
Do you work with families?
Yes. Heartwood Legacy works with individuals, families, and small groups. End of life preparation often involves more than one person, and having family members or chosen family present for parts of the process can be meaningful and clarifying.
Who is behind Heartwood Legacy?
Heartwood Legacy was founded by a writer, editor, and artist whose academic background spans the study of human cultures, memory, and how societies across time have held death, grief, and the transmission of wisdom from one generation to the next. Years of direct caregiving work have deepened a commitment to showing up honestly for people in vulnerable and transitional moments. This practice exists because the standard containers for grief, legacy, and end of life preparation were not built for everyone — and they should be.
Is this available virtually?
Yes. Sessions and workshops are available both in person and online.
JR Creaden 