Sabrina Görlitz
I am the developer and namesake of Palligraphy – a unique form of end-of-life biography work and a narrative adaptation of Chochinov’s Dignity Therapy. I have enriched it with elements of classical storytelling in order to gently bring life’s cycles to a close and thus strengthen the sense of coherence in people with palliative illnesses.
We cannot always die ‘self-determined’ – but perhaps self-effecacious and in harmony with ourselves. Telling, reflecting on and documenting one’s own life story in the face of approaching death can be a decisive factor in this.
The booklet produced through the palligraphy process makes a wonderful and precious gift that can be passed on to family and friends.
My story
I was born in the heart of Schleswig-Holstein (close to the Danish border) and to this day I prefer to be in proximity to the sea. After studying journalism and media communication in Hamburg, I moved to Dublin for a few years, where I worked as a project coordinator for the Irish Cancer Society. The Irish people are wired for story – one of many reasons I call Ireland the home of my heart. I’ve always believed in the transformative power of stories, which is one of the reasons I studied journalism. However, it has always been the quiet stories that have particularly touched me. That’s why I created my own personal niche in „palliative journalism“ – and made a profession out of my vocation.
Dying and death have both frightened and fascinated me from an early age. Looking back, I would have liked something like ‘death education’ as a school subject, or at least a more open approach to our transience. I would have liked to have a mentor to help me with these issues, but in our Western culture such people are hard to find.
When I became a mother, I realised that it was now my responsibility to be that person for my child. Not only did I want to prepare my son for life in the best possible way, but also for death. I asked myself: What can I do now, at the beginning of his life, to prepare him for the end?
To answer this question, I completed several courses in palliative care and started working in hospitals and hospices in Hamburg as a “story nurse”. Sitting at the deathbed of lots of different people, I found out more about letting go, holding on, wanting to stay and being able to leave. Together with dying people, I write down their stories – I let them tell me what is important to them in the face of approaching death, what they believe in, what they hope for and what they want to remain of them. We marvel together at the miracles of both life and death and try to find words for them. Most of the time, this helps us both to be a little less afraid of the unknown and a little more curious about what is to come.
And if you want to know what answers I found for my son, and not just for him, you can read my book or have me read it to you on audible. (only in German)