Death Café Philadelphia 2014 Winter Summary
A write up of Death Cafe Philadelphia - Main Line Version
Three months into the year and Death Café Philadelphia, hosted by Rachel Zeldin of Funerals360 and Simcha Raphael of DA’AT Institute, has already hosted four Death Café Philadelphia Events.
January 14, 2014 – Elderly Activists Death Café
On January 14, the Elderly Activists had Death Café Philadelphia facilitator, Simcha Raphael, come in to facilitate a Death Café for their group. Approximately 20-25 self-selected individuals focused on “Positive Aging” attended and engaged in a productive, open, and warm conversation over lunch.
January 20, 2014 – Death Café Philadelphia at Cosi Rittenhouse
Death Café Philadelphia returned once again to Cosi Rittenhouse to continue the “fun, interesting, surprising, and life affirming” conversations that took place at the end of 2013.
With approximately 15 people in attendance, there was a great mix of returning and new faces to join in the Death Café social phenomenon. Similar to previous Death Café Philadelphia events hosted by Rachel Zeldin and Simcha Raphael, attendees commented on how they loved meeting new people and talking about topics they are interested in but rarely get to talk openly about. One person even commented that it was “such a human moment!”
February 26, 2014 – Death Café Philadelphia at Le Pain Quotidien
Death Café Philadelphia tried on a new location for size, taking over Le Pain Quotidien in Center City Philadelphia on February 26. Along with a new location there was a new vibe – 5 Temple University photojournalism students joined the group to partake in discussions around life and death as part of a class project.
The group of 15 enjoyed the change of location, which lent to the “open, warm, and sharing atmosphere” that Death Café promotes. With almost a perfect mix of male to female attendees who ranged from college age to 65+, there was plenty of eclectic conversation to be had. Attendees commented that the event was “organized, insightful, illuminating, authentic, practical, raw, necessary, unique, and stimulating.”
The whole event was captured on video and film (with permission of the attendees) and a short video of the experience was created to capture the essence of a Death Café. Check it out here:
http://youtu.be/wpkRruB7Qno
March 20, 2014 – Death Café Philadelphia – Main Line at New Leaf Club
Louise Polis stepped up to the plate to co-facilitate with Rachel Zeldin one of hopefully many more Death Café Philadelphia – Main Line events. Strategically set at the new non-profit New Leaf Club next door to the Rosemont station, 10 people joined for a relaxing evening conversation centered on end-of-life philosophy, bucket lists, and personal experiences with death, focusing on how we can live life to the fullest and die without regrets.
Louise intends to host more Death Cafes on the Main Line in the coming months so stay tuned for updates and be sure to join the Death Café Philadelphia Meetup Group to stay up to date on future events and connect with past participants.