Death Cafe Winchester, VA
A write up of Death Cafe Winchester, VA
The August 2, 2015 Death Cafe in Winchester, Va was attended by a dozen participants who created an environment of trust, sensitivity, and intelligence.
The dialogue centered around whether or not our culture is becoming desensitized or sensitized by the rampant violents deaths that are happening in our world at this time. We wonder how the media is affecting us, and whether the global community will be able at some point change the world view of what is acceptable behavior for humankind. How can we effect a paradigm shift?There was agreement that each person through intentional action and thought becomes a participant and there was consensus to this possibility.
It was the groups' experience that grief, fear, and anger are a dominant experience in our culture and that the cultivation of compassion, forgiveness, and equanimity is key to easing that experience. Untameable grief is seen as a "stagnant form of sadness" to be eased by recognizing it as a process, to be present with it, and by recognizing that it is possible to move through it, allowing time for the process to unfold, and seeking professional help as needed.
In a fear driven culture we can recognize that fear can change with awareness and by confronting and allowing ourselves to be with it. Fear of death and the circumstances around our own deaths seems to be a normal experience of the unknown and is eased by the dialogue that participants at the Death Cafes experience.
How am I going to die? What will be the event or episode that will lead to our death? Will we have time in the moment to reflect on it? The time is now.
Death Cafe Winchester, VA will meet again at Steamy's Cafe on September 6. 2015