How to Host a Viking Funeral

An inspiring speaker and artist asked 20,000 people around the world to share the regrets they wanted him to burn in a mock Viking ship. This is the story of what he learned about letting go of the pain of the past and embracing the future with hope. Turning 30, artist and speaker Kyle Scheele wanted to do something unusual to mark this milestone.

Instead of a birthday bash, he decided to hold a funeral to memorialize the decade of his life that was ending. Building a 16-foot Viking ship out of cardboard, he invited friends to help him set it on fire--a symbolic farewell to his 20s and all the grief, regret, and mistakes that accompanied those years. When video of his Viking funeral went viral, it encouraged many others to let go of past hurts as well.

Moved by the response he received, Kyle planned a second funeral (this time with a 30-foot cardboard Viking ship) and asked people to share the things they carried--the bad choices, disappointments, heartaches, and negative thinking that they wanted to lay to r