Meet Taylor Bell and Lacy Buynak | End-of-Life Planners and Companions at The Art of Dying

We had the good fortune of connecting with Taylor Bell and Lacy Buynak and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Taylor / Lacy, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
We had zero plans to start a business. In fact, we initially didn’t even know the other was doing an end-of-life doula training. When we found out, conversations started to flow and the inspiration just kept coming. It was almost like the path was being laid out in front of us. We saw the opportunity to create something that got people talking about and preparing for death earlier in life, alongside the more traditional roles of a death doula, like companionship and sitting vigil. Death work can be enormously gratifying, but it also has its difficulties so going into this as a partnership has proven to be a very wise choice for us.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
We’re excited to offer something that, to the best of our knowledge, hasn’t existed in DFW. Our services meet people where they are; young or old, healthy or terminal, caretaker or patient. We encourage people to get a head start on their end-of-life plans by offering guidance and education on how to best prepare themselves. For those who are at the end of their life, we help them wrap up their legal and logistical to-dos, plan celebrations, and/or offer comfort and care by way of our holistic services and companionship, including sitting vigil. As for caretakers and loved ones, we offer support as a sounding board and confidant, as well as a curated list of resources for additional assistance. Death is the one inevitable in life and it’s the thing we know the least about. So acknowledging it, planning for it, talking about it and allowing space for it can lead to feeling more free, and more alive in the present moment.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We’d definitely go to brunch at Taste Project. Great food and a great cause, with a special shout out to their crispy potatoes. Leaves Book and Tea Shop is a must. They have a really nice, curated selection of books and they make a delicious London Fog, It would seem remiss if we didn’t go to the Botanical Gardens, and specifically the Japanese Gardens. For a night out, we’d start at the Usual, which not only has creative cocktails, but some of the best mocktails in town. Tinies for dinner – it’s such a fun, going out vibe. Plus it’s tapas style dining, so not too heavy. Which is great because we’d head to Tulips after to catch a show. So grateful Fort Worth has that venue. If we were hungry after, we’d stop by It’s Food, the vegan food truck off Magnolia that’s open late.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
We are both incredibly grateful for our individual death doula trainings; Going with Grace and CareDoula School for Accompanying the Dying.

Website: www.theartofdyingfw.com

Instagram: @theartofdyingfw

Facebook: The Art of Dying FW

Yelp: The Art of Dying

Image Credits
Krystal Peterson (first picture / professional shot of the two of us)