March 2015 Summary
A write up of Denver Death Cafe March 2015
By Anita Larson
Denver Death Café Summary
March 15, 2015
Thank you to Charlene Mason with Porter Place for hosting the March 2015 Denver Death Café and placing a beautiful color ad in the Wash Park Profile newspaper. One long-time, regular attendee brought delicious homemade chocolate chip cookies! She also brought “to-go” bags for everyone to take some home. You’ll meet the nicest people at a Death Café!
Sir Terry Pratchett, master of humorous fantasy and British Author died on March 12th and there was discussion around his life and Obituary.
“I came to the Denver Death Café eight months ago and now I am eight months closer to death, so here I am.”
Conversations evolved around whole body donation, cremation, organ donation, tissue donation and Colorado State Anatomical Donation. My cousin’s wife had a cornea transplant and died a few weeks later from rabies. The donor died in an auto accident and they didn’t know that he had rabies.
There is an animated film titled “Waking Life” that speaks to the portal to where we are going. It’s about life, sleeping and dying.
There was interesting dialogue about the Seth materials, dream analysis and recognizing dreams that give us insight into what is on the other side. There is a thin line between a heart that’s breaking and a heart that’s breaking open. My father died 15 months ago and comes through my dreams several times a week. I recently had the one-and-only dream where my parents came to me together. I felt comforted and like we were a family again. Dreams are very powerful.
I believe death is a Summerland of eternal youth. We review the life we just lived and plan for the next incarnation. Death is merely a transition from one state of being to the other.
I worked in a one-day surgery center. Channeling Seth, the day before my mother passed I was holding her hand. She was staring at a blank TV screen and a light came through me. I could see what she was seeing, a beautiful pastel scene.
Conversations ensued about meditation, mindfulness, the Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh. Dan Harris who wrote the book 10% Happier. Michael Singer authored The Untethered Soul – The Journey Beyond Yourself.
I have learned to use art and poetry to start a conversation about death. Draw a spider web and in the center write the word “Death”, write in your first words about death and life in the surrounding spaces of the web. What am I afraid of? What do I celebrate? What do I want to change? Let your subconscious speak to you. One student came back with an 8’ spider web on brown craft paper, once she got going she couldn’t stop writing about death. You can use any topic for this exercise.
Near Death Experiences (NDE), lighted tunnels with people on the other side. Not everybody thinks there is something after death and not everybody cares. I want the person buried in the ground to come back and tell me what happens – I want proof! <LAUGHTER> What if there is nothing? Life way of being that is moral, congruent and could we bridge hundreds of religions and millions of deaths? Can’t we craft a moral way of being? Some cultures actually celebrate death. Religions keep control of people being good. Paranoid of what might happen afterwards. One thing is for certain – everyone will experience death. Try to live a good life regardless of what happens after we die.
How will our thoughts change when death is imminent? When we are actually in that process? I’m an Atheist and believe in the Big Bang Theory. I do not believe in heaven and hell.
I never want to be a burden to my children. I’m writing my Dad’s story and recording his voice. Every moment is a gift. Aging parents are like dealing with a delinquent 7-year-old. Have compassionate moments, be honest and take care of yourself. When I walk into the room in a nursing home or hospice and the person is not dead – I recognize that I am having a living experience with a person who is alive and that is what is important. My mom is in Hospice, so excited that we are coming to see her. I think she would have died sooner without Hospice. We die the way we live.
Some one-word thoughts on today’s conversations – bewildering, complicated, ambiguous, different, spiritual, exciting, delightful, intricate, life affirming, philosophical, engaging, calming and comforting. The intriguing, intellectual and insightful conversations about death and dying continue next month.
Our next Denver Death Café gathering will be:
Date: Sunday, April 19th, 2015
Time: 3-4:30 p.m.
Place: Porter Place, 1001 E. Yale Avenue, Denver, CO 80210
There is plenty of free parking in the back (north) and also in the church parking lot to the east. Enter through the back doors.
Please arrive a few minutes early to secure a seat and grab some refreshments.
We begin promptly at 3:00. No RSVP required.
“Talking about death leads to a good life.”
Anita Larson, Facilitator, Family Celebrant
Greg Whitehair, Facilitator, Mediator and Medical Ethicist