Death Cafe write-ups
Yet again it never ceases to amaze me! People have a quest for personal knowledge & understanding. Never more than now, it seems. The time is right & Jon and his Ma have been an inspiration to us all.
Sarasota's First Death Cafe Write up
Posted by Continuity of Life on April 15, 2014, 2:37 p.m.
As it was our 1st Death Café experience as facilitators and participants we were curious and excited as to how it might unfold. We kept it true to DC format and opened with a brief explanation of what a Death Café was, the founder Jon Underwood, and the details about the organization itself. We then went over what a DC is not… a grief support meeting, a place for self-promotion or a meeting with an agenda.
What an amazing event! Sarasota’s 1st Death Café was an astonishing success. 20 people were in the room aging from 11 to 76 and from all walks of life. We had ...
Pendle Death Cafe Write up
Posted by Geoffcheesy on April 15, 2014, 1:43 a.m.
We held our 4th Death Cafe on 7th April again at the terrific Green Chimney with a 7pm start time, although with late corners it was 7;20 before we started.
We started out by welcoming in a lot of new faces yet again, we totalled 26 this time which is our best turnout to date and might just be our peak.
I started the evening with bits and pieces of news, on-going events and up dates.
As the evening came to a close we went around the room taking everybody's opinion.
Sally then closed the evening with a brilliant summarising thanking everyone for their participation and ...
Most of participants said at the beginning they came out of interest, curiosity, because of the announcement they saw on the door of the café Pochwała Niekonsekwencji. The discussions touched upon the role of mass media in our understanding of death, on personal experiences of death (one of participants was diagnosed twice with cancer and declared terminally ill by the doctors) as well as on the death and dying of parents. Towards the end of the meeting, there was a general feeling that we have just touched the surface of the topic and that there is more need to go into the transcendental meaning of this experience.
PDX Death Cafe dinner at the West Cafe Write up
Posted by Holly Pruett on April 10, 2014, 3:43 p.m.
As with our previous four PDX Death Cafes, this was full to overflowing, with 80 participants enjoying a lovely meal provided at no cost by our hosts, the West Cafe.
The first of our Cafes since last December, we were immediately flooded with over 100 registrants when we announced registration. We made the tough call to confirm only those who had not attended a prior Cafe, paired at tables with facilitators who had experience with the Death Cafe format.
The event opened and closed with music from the Loose Strings, a combo formed by a Death Cafe participant, who played a few thematically appropriate tunes.
62 people completed ...
Despite a wet and rainy Houston day, we meet at the Art Asylium for interesting conversation and Mexican pastries from El Bollillo. This was one of our smaller gatherings which included two visiting exchange students at UH from Hong Kong. This month's topic seemed to evolve around end-of-life planning. We will meet again on Sunday, May 4, same location.
Death Café 92119- San Carlos, was fully attended on Saturday, March 22, 2014, from 11:00 a.m. until about 1:15 p.m. The group encompassed a wide geographical area, with some attendees traveling over 100 miles to join.
Lively discussion ensued with rarely a quiet interlude. Three people expressed interest in facilitating a Death Café in their area.
o Gratitude to have a safe environment to bring up topics related to death and dying and not be “shut down.”
o Being able to openly talk about one’s “OWN” mortality.
o To listen to others ideas on the topic.
o To touch on ...
Death Cafe, Brisbane, Queensland Write up
Posted by Beth OBrien on April 4, 2014, 3:24 p.m. 2 comments
We have a wonderful and diverse discussion tonight. We spoke about the new Threshold Choir in the city of Brisbane who sing as volunteers to people who are dying. We had some people who were foreign nationals now working in Australia who asked about how Australian funerals happen. The interesting topic of roadside memorials, usually crosses, were important to families and friends, and how in different countries differing symbols were used to display.
One of our attendees is a researcher working on the topic of visual art around funerals, so that brought up the topic of selfies, pictures of dead people, videos at funeral ceremonies.
We talked about ...
Death Cafe Ukiah Write up
Posted by Death Cafe Ukiah on April 2, 2014, 9:53 p.m.
Here we are in 2015 and our January cafe will be Saturday 1/3.
Same place: Ukiah Senior Center
Same time: 2-4PM
Death Cafe Roseville CA Write up
Posted by Cindie Wilding on April 2, 2014, 12:28 p.m.
I was so delighted to host my first Death Cafe in Roseville, at Mimi's Cafe. Six souls showed up to drink tea, eat one of the three desserts I brought, and talk about death and dying. We had a chocolate flourless cake, coffee cake, and vegan cookies so all culinary tastes were accomodated. One participant came all the way from Paso Robles. Our conversation flowed around our early experiences of death, our current dealings with death of loved ones and experiences we have had with those who have passed sending us messages in some form. The time flew by and I know there was probably much more ...
Death Cafe in Whitefish, Montana Write up
Posted by nancyreecejones on April 1, 2014, 9:04 p.m.
As with the first two Whitefish Death Cafes, this evening was filled with lively discussions covering a range of topics including the fear of death, what comprises a full life, detachment vs. attachment, surrender vs. control, and healing into death. We had 12 participants: 7 of us were returnees and 5 were newbies. The conversation was stimulating, thought-provoking, and thoughtful with everyone respecting the observations and opinions of others. Looking forward to the next one!
Death Cafe Nevada Write up
Posted by Paula Schneider on April 1, 2014, 6:12 p.m.
This was our fifth Death Cafe in Carson City, Nevada, USA. We are customarily enjoying about 8-12 attendees and have requested feedback from each of them. Our evaluations have been most positive. People seem to enjoy the intimate environment of a small group meeting in the historical district of Carson City. We meet in the rectory of St. Peter's Episcopal Church, a small Victorian style home built by the brother of Mark Twain. It is said that Mr. Twain used to visit the home frequently. Our plan is to continue offering people the opportunity to explore end-of-life issues in a safe, confidential environment approximately once every two ...
Death Cafe Wellington NZ Write up
Posted by Sophia Tara on March 31, 2014, 1:48 p.m.
DEATH CAFE WELLINGTON NZ LAUNCH 30 March 1pm-3pm:
So we launched the very 1st Death Cafe in Wellington and only the 2nd ever held in NZ. We opened the Death Cafe by creating a sacred space with an indigenous Maori Song-Blessing and a one minute 'silence of presence' - we closed with a one minute 'silence of gratitude'. The beautiful church venue was perfect for such a sacred sharing space, with its stained glass windows, pipe organ, acoustic architecture and baptismal font with paua shell inlay. It also afforded quietness and privacy from the public.
We had quality rather than quantity, with a small group of five wonderful kindred ...
Death Cafe - Sydney Write up
Posted by April Lewis on March 25, 2014, 10:24 p.m.
I eagerly registered for the first Death Cafe Sydney get together, I had heard of other Death Cafes and I wanted to be a participant. I wanted to support the idea of an open, community based discussion of death in general: mine, friends, family, strangers in a warm and accepting group. As a previous volunteer with a palliative care organisation I had many opportunities to discuss the impending death of patients with both themselves and their carers and friends, and I was happy to share my experiences with others, so a Death Cafe seemed the ideal forum. I believe the topic of death should be more openly discussed ...
Death Cafe at The Tallet was held in the Bedroom of facilitator - Emily.
Emily decided to host the Death Cafe in her bedroom to reflect the private nature of death and talking about death. As she stated: "I wouldn't normally lead a stranger straight to my bedroom".
She swapped her bed for tables and 12 of us sat, rather tightly, in one group.
We drank berry tea and ate 'coffin cake' - cakes containing skeletons made from candy canes.
The discussion began with Emily talking about her reasons for hosting the death cafe. She talked about losing her step-father last year, the result of which had caused a ...