Unhurried Post-Mortem

This study investigates the changing landscape of funeral practices, studying the transition from community-involved rituals to professionalized, streamlined funeral processes. Modern funerals have become more privatized, distancing relatives from active involvement and shifting responsibilities to professionals. This shift has led to a lack of personalized rituals and distancing relatives from death, potentially leaving bereaved individuals with unprocessed grief. Utilizing a service design approach alongside arts-based research methods uncovered nuanced insights into the funeral landscape. This approach facilitated a deeper understanding of the bereaved’s needs and shed light on the value of involving slowness in funeral services. Arts-based methods, while emphasizing credibility over conventional validity, provided richer, multidimensional insights into the subject matter. Moreover, reflexive research played an essential role, helping researchers to critically reflect on their assumptions and social constructs. A key finding of this study lies in the increasing diversity of demands in funeral services and processes, reflecting individualistic desires and varied life-views among the Finnish population. The longing for slowness, a deeper connection with nature, and personalized mourning experiences were the most distinctive themes. Slowness in this context refers not to delaying burial but rather to providing relatives with a considered and deliberate mourning process. The study’s findings highlights the significance of incorporating personalized rituals into the mourning process, challenging the prevalent quest for efficiency and our avoidance of mortality. Slowness in funeral rituals offers a means to confront loss, demystify death, and facilitate healthier grieving processes, ultimately enabling individuals to confront mortality with greater understanding and acceptance.