Does anyone else feel that this profession is incredibly lonely?

Hi everyone! I want to start by saying this is not meant to discourage anyone from getting into the business. All professions have pros and cons. I simply want to have a candid discussion with fellow directors.

I’m a young female funeral director and embalmer. I work at a funeral home with a full time staff of 2, including myself.

When people in my daily life find out about what I do, they’re usually fascinated and have lots of questions for me. That all feels fun and exciting, but I realize I crave so much for people to just understand and not treat it like I’m on the fringe of society doing some secret veiled job.

All of the gifts I receive are related to my work - skeleton magnets, casket jewelry boxes, funeral coloring books, and more. I feel lonely because this job seems to define me when I’m so much more complex than that. I love to read thrillers. I love my cats. I love art and I have so many hobbies but it’s like I don’t fit anywhere. I’m the strange funeral girl.

When my friends and I talk about our days sometimes I wish I could chime in with the classic “our accountant is a real bitch” or “I ate lunch with a group of coworkers” instead of “Mr. ____ purged”.

My job is not relatable to people. They don’t get it no matter how much I try to keep them in the loop. Even my family doesn’t want to hear about certain details of my day. It makes me feel like I’m hiding something, and sometimes ashamed.

The funeral directing community can feel vibrant and full on platforms like this but in real life, day to day it feels so incredibly isolating. There are so many things I love about my career and it’s a true passion of mine. It’s my calling. I’m just trying to feel some sense of community before burnout.

Thank you all in advance. I’m hoping some of you can relate? Are you all actually the happiest most confident people in the world, or do we all feel some of this distance?