Glitter caskets, people! Not for your average corpse: What says Inhabitant Loved Life!! more than a crazy shiny, glittery box for eternity?
And that, in a glittery nutshell, is why I love them. The photo is from the collection of The Glitter Coffin Company based in the U.K. Check them out on Instagram, too. Their website says they ship overseas, just saying.
Like many, I imagine, my gut reaction was “COOL, but not my thing.” (My dream casket would be a handmade job decorated by my friends and family in the most, well… handmade way possible — pictures, cartoons, a little decoupage, notes, photos. The more on it the better, I don’t care what a mess it looked like.)
But what we need most in the world of goodbyes is choice. Options. A wide variety. It makes no sense that for decades our main choice in going-away containers has been wood or steel, with color variations but not much else. Why?! Why does a casket need to conform to that particular style? It’s like making a Ford Taurus our only choice of car.
And then the more I looked at the pretty glitter caskets, the more I liked them. They’re upbeat and life-affirming. They offer the bereaved a chance to smile on a terrible day, and have a memory that will continue to make them smile forever after.
Glitter in general is not my style, but I’ve been persuaded of its positive value at a time when every little bit helps. I’ve decided to put in the “casket-decorating ideas” section of my goodbye plans, a request for a generous amount of glitter in and around all the other goodbye goodies.
Time and again I come back to the power that the deceased has to influence the sadness around their departure. If you want to say “Life was great, celebrate me!” leave instructions for people to wear boas, hats, cowboy boots, wigs, Halloween costumes, Hawaiian shirts, bikinis… whatever lights you up. Get buried in a glitter casket, put your ashes in a kaleidoscope urn, get buried in a tie-dyed shroud. If peace and serenity is more your style, include a meditation in your plans, or a gratitude circle, or a day of prayer and service.
Anything is possible. You don’t have to do what’s always been done.
I Want a Fun Funeral‘s tagline is “putting a little life in your last wishes.”
In my book, a glitter casket is way full of life. I love it.