Chapter 13. Circle of Life startup disruptive potential
Taking into account the problems with available cemetery space, annual price growth, and trends involving sustainable practices, the more personalized options of less pricey “Circle of life” elevates recognition of such trends in a less stressful untraditional, more natural way and on a much bigger scale.
While visiting the “Death Café” event in Stratford-upon-Avon, I received a valuable insight: many people simply need a place or an opportunity to speak about death and the painful experiences surrounding personal death “events” which they have endured and then felt compelled to keep bottled up inside. This has nothing to do with a trip to the psychiatrist’s office. Circle of Life space makes an intimately human subject (death) non-taboo and open for discussion.
All “Ted Talk” speeches about death have a similar message: being open about death could change the way that we die, but more importantly it could transform the way we live. Circle of Life conveys this message through art, nature and beauty to change people’s mindset towards death and thus towards life.
Dave Isay in his Ted talk Everyone around has a story the world needs to hear spoke about his StoryCorps project and outlined the responsibility and huge potential of digital media for relating everyone’s story and making it important for the world. Circle of Life Museum resonates this message and proposes the only place in the world where all stories blossoming from the family tree can be nurtured and expressed in respectful way. Everyone can be in a Museum. The success of this project and Museum of Me made by Intel proves that people need it.
Finally, digital startups like Eterni.me, IDEO’s new project Zenhospice.org and others described in my blog chapter about alternatives and potential competitors focus on those who tend to dwell on death, on their own mortality, who obsess about the past, and are forever placing themselves in the mental mode of “summing up” their existence instead of actually living it.
The Circle of life web-service and the digital facilities for Circle Museum and other spaces focus on a life story that happens Now. Simply, Circle web-service adds new value to sharing content not only via Facebook, WhatsUp, e-mail, etc., but also with Circle where all story-making is done automatically with AI technologies and kept in Museum space. People don’t need to think what message to leave for the future and be stressed because of it. They share what they think is important for them now and it can be preserved for the future. Circle has a clear connection with the Museum and the death topic, thus the Circle web-service helps to promote and illuminate this recognition.
Solving one specific problem can lead, chain-like, to solving other problems like digital legacy, keeping content in diverse places, and others.
Circle of Life dedicated to the blessed memory of
My Mom
