Write up of Death Cafe Marrickville

A write up of Death Cafe Marrickville

By mknight

Prior to every Death Café I find myself observing the same thoughts going through my mind.  Who will turn up?  What will the topics of discussion be?  How will people feel afterward?  Will they experience a sense of resonance with the conversation?  Will they like the ‘flow’ of the Death Café?  Will it be of use?

For me, it is a joy being part of the Death Café movement, primarily because it provides an alternative forum for people to talk about all things death, dying and the afterlife.

It is difficult to have these conversations in an environment which is open and inviting, which is one of the reasons why I feel Death Café works so well. 

An important element of this is the respect that people afford one another.  An individual’s relationship with death is uniquely their own.  It is a relationship forged in the midst of life which is shaped and fashioned by a host of influences which have their roots in culture, society, spirituality, and family.

This diversity and plurality of experience and opinion was well represented, and very much respected, at our October Death Café which, as always, reminds me of the different perspectives we all have regarding life and death.  Conversation reflected the different interests and life experiences of attendees, and ranged from recent happenings of suicide reported in the media, to end of life wishes, to near-death experiences.

I think that one of the things Death Café is very good at is inviting people to consider death, and the meaning of death, from perspectives other than our own. 

While we all have our own relationship with death, we can become ‘tunnel visioned’ and pedantic about our views.  Death Café gently challenges that in a way that is non-intrusive.  It reminds us to be open to others’ perspectives, to acknowledge that there are many ‘pathways’ to our death, and that the majority of us, for the most part, walk alone on that pathway.  Every so often we meet someone on the same path, but ultimately, we all enter the portal of death alone.

There are many experiences in life during which we intersect with our death.  For some it may be a significant dream, or an experience of ill-health or some other trauma, while for others it may be a mystical or spiritual event, or even reading a passage of text.  That intersection can take many forms, one of which is Death Café. 

In this space we listen to others and reflect, we ponder, we muse upon what is said, and we wonder.  We wonder what will happen when we die.  Where will we go?  Do we actually go anywhere and if we do, what will we do there?   What is this thing we call ‘death’?  Well, that’s what Death Café is trying to help us find out.  

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