Death Cafe write-ups
North East London Online Death Cafe BST hosted by Debbie Young & Alberta Gutteridge Write up
Posted by Creating Conversations CIC on Aug. 13, 2021, 5:23 a.m.
There are things that you plan weeks, or even months, in advance with a great burst of enthusiasm and energy. And then the date comes around and a great number of things have happened in between; unexpected challenges, good things too, and you wonder if you have planned your calendar badly as you aren’t sure you have enough energy for this particular event. Perhaps that’s just me, but it was the case with the virtual Death Café, Debbie & I hosted on Tuesday 10 August 2021. Number two of the North East London series.
How strange then to start an event tired and end it feeling uplifted ...
10 Aug 2021. A small group of 3 of us but what energy, passion, enthusiasm and curiosity! And celebrating a belated Dying to Know Day. Themes discussed included
· Aged care – where death and dying is commonplace but families are still shocked by the suddenness of death;
· where conversations are easily welcomed in all settings of life; and where the dying person may not feel comfortable, or may be fearful, to engage in talking about death (their death) and their own dying; or may not be asked how they are feeling. And often the family/loved ones aren’t asked or supported along the way. (We have a long ...
8 July 2021 - small group of 4 - but rich discussion. Themes and topics included discussions about: Interesting books
were were reading e.g. “We all know how this ends”; the complexity of grief and loss from a sudden death; that navigating different
family dynamics and organising a funeral can be complex; that different people may need different types of information; and react in
their own way to loss and grief. And knowing a person’s wishes is difficult when they haven’t had discussions or left any instructions
. That there continues to still be pockets of the community where people feel a lot of ...
8 June 2021 - Virtual DC. We shared our experiences about ‘being present’, the importance of demystifying death and dying and
normalising it; how we are curious about Death Cafes and also about engaging in the space; the language and the communication ski
lls that we can use to engage in this interesting area; and that it is often a relief for someone to have the opportunity to have these
discussions which can create an avenue for story-telling and rituals; that health professionals aren’t always skilled at having these
conversations (some more than others). We all are as ‘qualified’ as each other to potentially talk about death and ...
Online Death Cafe Iowa CDT July Write up
Posted by DeathCafeIowa on July 21, 2021, 12:42 p.m. 1 comment
For our July Death Café Iowa we met via Zoom. Buffy Peters from the Bereavement Professionals Group facilitated the group. There were three individuals who attended the Death Café this month which made for a small and intimate group.
The topic of death doulas and the controversy of their titles was brought up. Some may say that death doulas should be more appropriately called death companions, because their tasks differ a little bit from what birth doulas do. In a birth there is a midwife and possibly a doula, but in death there is not someone there necessarily to help you die- so what does that leave the ...
A Death Café was held in the learning commons on the evening on May 24th. 13 students, teachers, and community members gathered to talk about death while drinking tea and eating sweets. This was the first of a series of Death Café events which will be held throughout the coming years. It was a calm, relaxed place for people to come and talk openly about death.
Plans had been made to begin holding Death Cafés starting in 2020, but due to the global pandemic, it was delayed. This Death Café took place taking care to follow corona virus preventative measures.
This first café went well. Participants ...
13 May 2021 - Small group of 5 interesting women spanning a variety of ages, backgrounds and life experiences. We shared our experiences about
- that the experience of dying can be “a beautiful thing”; and the value of ‘holding space’; ‘being present’ and also sharing laughter along the way . All this as long as it is ‘legal, safe, sane and consensual)
- a discussion around unexpected deaths – and a myriad of emotions attached with this ranging from quality of life – if we could choose to die suddenly then wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing? To the impact of unexpected deaths on the living – how we interpret sudden deaths (positive ...
Online Death Cafe Iowa CDT June Write up
Posted by DeathCafeIowa on June 25, 2021, 10 a.m.
For our June Death Café Iowa we met via Zoom. Buffy Peters from the Bereavement Professionals Group facilitated the group. There were three individuals who attended the Death Café this month which made for a small and intimate group.
The topic of how the pandemic influenced death and grieving was talked about significantly within the group. Between sub-topics of interrupted rituals, impact on children, “shadow loss” for the whole world, and even focusing our attention on what is important. Postponed grief also worked into the mix and the group mentioned how important rituals are in grief.
The medicalization of death and dying was brought up by a participant ...
At this Covid-influenced ZOOM Death Cafe, 15 people from around the country dropped by to experience one of our more conversational monthly virtual Death Cafes.
The participants explored, questioned, shared and sometimes laughed as they easily and warmly welcomed meeting one another openly.
There was genuine acceptance of the sentiments voiced.
While we discussed the possibility of returning to the "face-to-face, sit around the tables" Death Cafe of pre-COVID times, most agreed the ZOOM format is a comfortable one and one that introduces people from a wider geographic area (past ZOOM Death Cafes have seen visitors from Canada, Australia and Europe, as well as other states).
It's ...
Death Cafe Tunbridge Wells Online BST Write up
Posted by carmeldunmall on June 4, 2021, 5:14 a.m.
8 of us met on zoom from USA, Canda and the Uk.
The discussion was around grief, the openness of the group was touching and the conversation deep.
June Uptown Online Death Cafe CDT Write up
Posted by Death Cafe Uptown on June 3, 2021, 11:30 a.m.
Online Death Cafe Iowa CDT May Write up
Posted by DeathCafeIowa on June 2, 2021, 9:56 a.m.
For our May Death Café Iowa we met via Zoom. Buffy Peters from the Bereavement Professionals Group facilitated the group. There were three individuals who attended the Death Café this month which made for a small and intimate group.
The topic of one’s awareness around death was brought up. Pre-planning and the act of smart funeral planning is important for family members. Death Doolas can be part of the pre-planning for death. Some individuals do not want family members to be around them if they are sick and dying, which is where a Death Doula would step in and be that support system for the individual.
The ...
North East London Online Death Cafe BST hosted by Debbie Young & Alberta Gutteridge Write up
Posted by Creating Conversations CIC on May 21, 2021, 8:12 a.m.
Swedish death cleaning. Just one of the topics that came out of my first virtual Death Café. Well never mind the virtual, my first Death
Café. It was planned to be a North East London gathering hosted by myself and Debbie, who is Death Café-experienced, but ended up
being a gloriously global affair with participants from yes, north-east London, but also Scotland, Ireland and Canada. Back to the death
cleaning or death decluttering. The idea behind it is to release the burden of your things from the loved ones you leave behind. ‘It’s a
loving thing to do for the people you care about.’ There was ...
April 2021 - Another energetic, enthusiastic, curious international group some who have attended my DC before and others new. They openly shared their experiences, questions and were so authentic in opening up about the topic many are 'scared' or adverse to talk about...death...dying. It was a wonderful one and a half hours . We shared information and stories about
- "being present' that dying and death is not all terrible, it can be profoundly beautiful ("the beautiful and terrible")
- demystifying death and dying and normalising it
- conversation starter tools
- that a life-limiting condition can give us an opportunity to discuss and plan our wishes, our funerals and better prepare ...
March 2021 - Another international group of wonderful people who shared their experiences so openly. I am always inspired to facilitate these events because we all share and learn so much! At this event look at what we covered in 1.5 hrs!!!!! Amazing !!!
Afterlife Discussions (YouTube)
Netflix - Surviving Death
What happens after we die (Sarah Kerr)
TED talk - I see dead people : dreams and visions of the dying
Atul Gawande's book and video Being Mortel
The Little Soul in the Sun
Dancing in the Dark book
The Nurmber one queston about the afterlife and reincarnation - Suzanne Giesemann
COVID-19 and rejoicing when people's health turns positive
The ...