LASAE
This project stems from the desire that no one will ever have to experience the anguish/concern, loneliness and – financial, social and professional – uncertainty related to the death of a beloved one.
This project stems from the desire that no one will ever have to experience the anguish/concern, loneliness and – financial, social and professional – uncertainty related to the death of a beloved one.
THE NAME
The name “Lasa” comes from Etruscan mythology. “Lase” were protecting deities, often portrayed as winged, with female features. Their duty was to accompany those departing for the afterlife, and to support, advise, and protect those staying in the land of the living. Later, the word was partially borrowed by Christianity to describe guardian angels.
The word “Lasae” refers, on the one hand, to the idea that each one of us might have their own “lasa” accompanying, supporting, and advising them in times of grief. On the other hand, it refers to the “lase” community and, therefore, to the group-creation process that the project intends to develop.
THE IDEA
A place where grief can be addressed from three perspectives: practical, emotional, and transformative:
Practical guidance: Guiding and providing information
about all the practical issues related to the death of a loved one. From funeral arrangements to bank accounts, from insurances to fiscal consequences, from dealing with the belongings of the person who died to digital inheritances, transfer of contracts, and property management.
Emotional support: Presenting existing opportunities
reaching out, and encouraging people to seek and accept support, picking one of the available options: coaching, online therapy, counseling, spiritual paths, mindfulness, self-help and mutual-aid groups, psychotherapy.
Accompanying in the path of growth/resilience/transformation
How does death change us?
How does it make us different, as human beings and professionals?
Can our work and social environments grow more suitable to accommodate such a change?
A space for reflection, where to share stories, accompany a personal transformation often leading to a change of course, and of self-positioning, in the personal and professional contexts.
WHY LASAE
OUR TARGET
WHO
A small team of professionals, volunteering on this project.
Natalia Pazzaglia, Elena Viotto, Manuela Imperiali, Alessandra Janousek, Francesca Biavardi.
Illustration by Gianluca Folì.
THE VISION
A collective project, that deals with death not only as a merely personal issue;
Online and offline:
A sustainable project, which will find its own economic strategy to ensure continuity and to face all the necessary time investment, competences, and resources;
A place that does not claim to provide (ultimate) answers about death, but to provide the tools to cope with it.
A COMMUNICATION
Beautiful. The beauty of texts and images is key in bringing people closer to such a difficult topic.
Simple. Concepts and information have to be made easy to understand when dealing with subjects and situations – those connected to death – which are inherently complex and hard.
Useful. Not only does death trigger emotional consequences, but it also entails practical, financial, and administrative issues, which need to be promptly tackled.
Transformative. A communication that deals with death as a season of life, rethinking it as a new way of conferring meaning to it (life).
Collective. A communication where we reflect together and come to terms with loneliness, overcoming the feeling of being “wrong”, “broken”, or “needy”, and re-discovering ourselves as humans, through relations.
This communication – to take place mostly online, with a dedicated social media strategy – intends to debunk the taboo related to death.
Our current activities:
Contacts: