Latest Death Cafe News
Death Cafe write up: Death Cafe in Maple Ridge, BC
Posted by Death Cafe - Fremantle on Aug. 16, 2014, 11:48 p.m.
As a long-time fellow Death Cafe facilitator, I was really curious about what it would be like to sit in on a Death Cafe run by someone else. And this wasn't just 'someone else,' but a kindred spirit in the facilitation of death as positive inspiration.
Stephen Garrett and I seem to be holding up the planet from both ends (him here in Canada and I in Australia) with our passion for all things death and dying. We have our own journeys that have brought us to facilitating Death Cafe's but it seems that our message is the same. We both believe that speaking about death ...
Death Cafe write up: Death Cafe Senegal
Posted by Death Cafe Castlemaine on Aug. 15, 2014, 10:42 p.m. 2 comments
Death Cafe was well received here in Saint-Louis with those I could explain it to in my broken French! I did find it a little difficult to broach the subject of death with locals as well as find people who could speak good enough English to participate in the Death Cafe.
However on the day we had an enthusiastic contingent of five from Finland, Senegal and Australia all keen to explore death related issues. A particularly interesting discussion revolved around the rituals and beliefs of Muslim burial in Senegal. Much of our discussion was art related, with photography, film and visual art references exploring ways of grieving and ...
Death Cafe write up: the Rockland Maine Death Cafe!
Posted by plindquist on Aug. 15, 2014, 8:12 a.m.
Muffins and Tea at the Death Cafe by
> Jory Squibb
>
> I'm heading out to Michigan to spend time
> with my mother. She's almost 99 and I'm
> sure to hear her tell me every day, "Jory, I'm so tired of
> this. I just want to get 'out of here' ". When I
> first began to hear this mantra a few years ago, my
> engineer's mind tried to figure out how I could specifically
> respond to this apparently heart-felt plea from one I dearly
> love.
> I thought of getting some sort of 'final
> pill' from Oregon, where such assistance might be
> legal. I also talked with ...
Death Cafe write up: Death Cafe in Maple Ridge, BC
Posted by Leo Simmons on Aug. 14, 2014, 7:10 p.m.
Books lined the walls in neat yet homely shelving. As we opened the door, the air carried a strong fragrance of expertly-brewed coffee and fragrant teas, mingling with a pleasant atmosphere of quiet excitement and anticipation. We were almost – but not quite – late for our very first ‘Death Café’ experience, but it didn’t seem to faze our hosts or the fifteen or so people already settled in an interesting assortment of chairs around the outside of the room. Perhaps it helped that a ripple of applause was in progress as my wife and I (this was a birthday treat for her!) made our entrance to the tiny ...
New Blog post: Letter
Posted by rumchester on Aug. 13, 2014, 10:06 a.m. 4 comments
Letter to Shepherd Smith & Todd Bridges.
Suicide wreaks havoc. In any family. That kind of death destroys the sufferer and decimates those that are left. It obliterate lives. Stymies growth. Snuffs out the present. And the future. In the years after my brother's suicide,my family was stupefied with grief. Guilty. Debased by that action. Horrified. To die in a chair. By your own hand. Alone. It was probably not his first attempt. He ...
Death Cafe write up: Death Cafe Hong Kong
Posted by Carmen Yau on Aug. 12, 2014, 11:38 p.m. 1 comment
It was a lively Sunday afternoon with nearly 40 participants in the Death Café Hong Kong on 27 July 2014. The event was held at the Love Soar Children Grief Awareness Expressive Art Exhibition.
The venue provided a warm and relaxing environment so that people felt free to express themselves and make friends with strangers around the table. All participants are local Hong Kong people and the whole event was held in Chinese.
We understand that Chinese may find it difficult to discuss about death. Therefore, we created some little paper rolls with quotes related to death and encouraged them to pick from the cup and share their ...
Death Cafe write up: Invito a partecipare al Death Cafe, conversazione aperta sulla morte e sul morire
Posted by Elisabetta Lucchi on Aug. 12, 2014, 5:14 p.m.
7th June 2014, Malcesine, near Verona.
A small group of three people took part in this Death Café, kindly hosted by Il Punto Café in Malcesine, a wonderful village on the shores of Lake Garda near Verona.
There was a very particular light surrounding this meeting and I would like to report the words of one of the participants, Michela, who afterwards described the atmosphere of this summer afternoon:
“How beautiful Malcesine was yesterday afternoon with people in the squares and music and the light from the lake which reverberated on the balconies full of flowers and the warm air soft with the perfume of jasmine. There is ...
New Blog post: Carpe diem....
Posted by torsum on Aug. 12, 2014, 3:11 a.m. 1 comment
It's been a big morning. News broke around the globe's social media that one of the funniest men on the planet, famous for 'seizing the day', in movies anyway, killed himself. For some reason it seems even sadder when a comedian has depression. Why is that? I guess the happy mask they wear is just amplified and more believable, so it seems less likely that they could be haunted with the same afflictions ...
New Blog post: Thinking of setting up a Death Cafe?
Posted by Josefine Speyer on Aug. 11, 2014, 9:40 a.m. 1 comment
A friend of mine is thinking of setting up a DeathCafe and dithering about starting. I gave her some advice. Perhaps it maybe useful to others? Here is is:
I think if you start up a Death Cafe with just one group of people around a table and then do all the feedback sheets and reports/write-ups and post these on the Death Cafe website, and link up with other Death Cafe hosts in your ...
New Blog post: Preparing for Dying - to live as fully and as richly as can be There's nothing more we can do? Let’s stamp out that phrase!
Posted by Josefine Speyer on Aug. 10, 2014, 7:39 a.m. 3 comments
“Instead of telling a terminally ill person "there's nothing more we can do," what if doctors actually said something more like this:
My Dear Patient, we've come to a point in this journey where to continue with traditional interventions will more than likely not stop the progression of your disease and in fact could do more harm and potentially shorten your life. Having said this, please know that there is much that we ...
Practitioners question: Questions from Lawrence Death Cafe
Posted by CW on Aug. 9, 2014, 1:08 p.m. 6 comments
Lawrence Death Cafe will host the 7th gathering today. Last month our attendance was close to 20 but this month it's 5. The article covering Lawrence Death Cafe boosted our attendance for July and this month we are at our all time lowest. My concern is how to get ...
Death Cafe write up: Hills Death Cafe
Posted by Glennis on Aug. 8, 2014, 7:23 p.m.
Hosted my first Death Cafe yesterday, on Dying to Know Day, and I was pleased with how it went. It was a small gathering only 6 guests and myself. A cute little venue. The conversation flowed freely and I had some positive feedback following it. A big thank you to those who came and supported me and also to Michelle of Kinfolk Cafe for letting me use her cafe for the event. I look forward to running another one some time. Here is a group photo following the event. I am the shorty in the middle back row. Glennis
Germany debates whose choice it is to die.
Death Cafe write up: 14th Death Cafe at Cafe Rouge in Hampstead, London, UK
Posted by Josefine Speyer on Aug. 6, 2014, 6:08 p.m. 2 comments
by Josefine Speyer
A lively evening, but less busy than expected. A demonstration in town and some difficulties on the underground may have made travelling for some people difficult. It was the anniversary of the 2 July London Bombings in 2005. I had invited two poets to read a short poem each. Only one was able to come. He read both poems to us at the start of the plenary.
The evening was in two halves: an intimate conversation around a small table for 1 ½ hours facilitated by a facilitator who also takes part in the conversation. A 25 minute break, followed by a 45 minute plenary. Ending ...