Summer Conference -- The Art of Living Well and Dying Well

Barbara Coombs Lee, president of Compassion in Dying, is one among several leading experts to lead seminars in "The Art of Living Well and Dying Well" at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico, July 30-Aug. 6.

Conference attendees will examine the myriad facets of death and dying. Leaders will use science, spirituality, dramatic techniques, dream work, music and the visual arts to impart meaningful messages and up-to-date information to attendees.

Attendees will hear Lee discuss how a range of choices can empower patients and give voice to their individual lifelong values. Dr. Richard Payne of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center will talk about advances in pain and symptom management. Dr. Karen Wood will speak about the teachings of various religious traditions on end-of-life decisions. Megan Cole, who developed and played the lead role in the play "Wit," will use dramatic techniques and poetry as tools of transformation.

Throughout the week-long conference, attendees will integrate and deepen learning through the spiritual practice of examining dreams. Rev. Jeremy Taylor, one of the world's most prolific proponents of dream work, will guide daily dream groups. Daily reflections will take on artistic embodiment through work with the Rev. Marvin Chandler in music, Charla Puryear in visual arts, and Krista Clapp in photography and creative memory.

The Rev. Dr. Paul Smith, an African-American minister leading an interracial congregation at the First Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn Heights, New York, is coordinating the conference.

Registration is $225. For more information, please visit the Ghost Ranch Web site at www.ghostranch.org or call 1-800-821-5145.