Death Cafe write-ups
East Kent Death Cafe Pop Up Write up
Posted by EastKentPopUp on Oct. 17, 2018, 10:17 a.m.
A lively discussion between 14 attendees at our first event. We talked about assisted dying; talking to children about death and the importance of clarity in the language we use; having a terminal illness and the comfort of having a friend who you can be really open with and talk to; we talked about the connection strangers can have after they've experienced a shared trauma; we talked about dying of a broken heart when couples die very quickly one after the other; we talked about the grieving experience after losing a parent and how it can change you as a person.
Some attendees said they were skeptical ...
Virden Death Cafe Write up
Posted by chriscross on Oct. 15, 2018, 6:46 p.m.
We had an evening of firsts! First time hosting and the first time such an event has happened in our small prairie town. We had a lovely Death Cafe with 20 participants. The Gopher Creek Coffee Company supplied the space, beverages and cake. The venue was excellent and just the right size for this group although others were interested space was limited. The evening was described as "relaxing", "fulfilling" , and "interesting". Everyone in attendance left saying that they want to come to another death cafe again! The small groups of 4 touched on many topics but the large group discussion used to wrap up the session was particularly ...
We held a Death Cafe for Health Care Professionals on Sept. 19th, 2018. We had a great group and a terrific discussion. Many health care professionals struggle with caring for patients and their families who are dying and have little opportunity to debrief or reflect. We are also subjected to moral distress as patients/families' goals of care may not align with what the health care team's goals are. By sharing our stories about loss both personal and profressional we realized how normal it is to feel anxious, frightened, uncertain, sad, and frustrated at times. The overall theme that emerged from our group discussion was that death ...
This was the third in a series of 5 Death Cafes planned to be held at Coffee in the Wood, Colliers Wood, London SW19 this year.
The cafe was attended by eight people, who met together with myself and Kevin, my co-host. We decided to have a conversation as a larger group rather than dividing the group and having different discussions simultaneously, salon style.
Our conversation moved between different themes including what makes for a 'beautiful' or 'peaceful' death, and how different our constructions of these might be. We posed the questions: what sort of death might we wish for ourselves, and for our loved ones?
We returned ...
11 people came (we were hoping for 23/30).
In the last 10 minutes we realised we had entirelyforgotten about the cake (it was delicious).
When we had a final go-round everyone said they'd enjoyed it a lot.
Death Cafe West Hampstead Write up
Posted by Josefine Speyer on Oct. 11, 2018, 5:43 p.m. 1 comment
Death Cafe West Hampstead on 8 October was fully booked. I was expecting 10 people. On the night I arrived an hour early as usual, with teas, two cakes, one of them gluten free and some black and white grapes. I set up the room and laid the table, looking forward to the evening with anticipation. But instead of 10 guests only three people turned up. None of them had attended a death cafe before. We shared a sense of disappointment at the chairs being left empty, at the absence of strangers we had expected to share the evening with.
So we huddled together at one end of ...
Vancouver Death Cafe Write up
Posted by Janet Rivers on Oct. 9, 2018, 7:20 p.m.
We had 9 participants with lively conversation and very good feedback.
This will be my last until the new year.
Chambana Death Cafe September 22, 2018 Write up
Posted by Sherry Gilles on Oct. 2, 2018, 4:53 p.m.
This death cafe took place at Unity Church and Spiritual Center in Urbana, IL and was well attended. There were 12 of us and 3 people had never attended a death cafe before. Besides myself two of the attendees identified themselves as death doulas who are working with a group in Colorado for training.
Other participants were an archaelogist, two retired disabled women, and others.
Two people queued up music they found appropriate for death workers or people interested in the topic of death period. They used phones to share the music.
There was conversation around the topic of singing to the dying to make their death easier ...
New Mills Festival Fringe Death Cafe Write up
Posted by Compassionate Communities High Peak on Oct. 1, 2018, 11 a.m.
A full house! The feedback 'Wordle' tells it all
Our first Death Cafe was a success! Now that we have some experience, I expect the next one to NJ e even better!
Death Cafe Wien Write up
Posted by Alexandra Kleinheinz on Sept. 29, 2018, 12:27 p.m.
Sieben TeilnehmerInnen trafen sich gerstern im 1. Wiener Gemeindebezirk zum Death Café. Fünf "neue" Gesichter und zwei WiederholungstäterInnen. Der Austausch war rege - von Patientenverfügung über Jenseitsvorstellungen und Begräbniswünsche bis hin zur Frage "darf ich mir zu Hause eine Urne aufstellen?" spannte sich ein bunter Themenfächer. Die Rückmeldungen der Teilnehmer am Ende des Treffens waren sehr schön: einstimming genossen sie den ungezwungenen und offenen Austausch mit so netten Gleichgesinnten. Die Stimmung war geprägt von Humor, Wärme, Interesse, Respekt und Verbundenheit - das ist Death Café Vienna. Eine Ode an das Leben!
Встреча началась с обсуждения воэможностей современной науки, помогающих избежать смерти, в частности, говорили о крионике. Для одних - это шанс "жить" вечно или/и вернуться к близким. Для других - страшная и мучительная смерть по собственному выбору.
Меня, как фасилитатора, особенно порадовало, что участники готовы слушать и принимать другое мнение, хотя бы на уровне "каждый остался при своем".
Спасибо всем участникам. Предвкушаю следующую встречу.
Bloomsbury Death Cafe Write up
Posted by ellen.pilsworth on Sept. 27, 2018, 6:13 p.m.
We had a lovely and lively Death Cafe at Moreish Cafe Deli on Marchmont Street. There were about 20 people there, so we had to split into three groups, but we all talked in response to the same questions.
Questions discussed included 'Which obejcts do you associate with the death of your loved ones?' and 'How would you like to be remembered after your death?'
Participants rated the event 5/5 and described it as 'thought-provoking,' 'enlightening' and 'memorable.'
The fantastic wall painting at Cafe Moreish served as the perfect backdrop for our conversations. Many thanks to Jenny for letting us use her cafe, and to participants for ...
Death Cafe Picnic at Brookwood - Teatime Write up
Posted by EmmaCurtis on Sept. 20, 2018, 9:49 a.m.
Our teatime DC was small but really wonderful. We had a very soulful conversation between three of us, joined by two other participants of the previous lunchtime cafe, who wanted to join in. This conversation was about personal experiences of death and how perhaps the universe might work, beliefs and how is it to mourn with an atheist outlook rather than believing that we go onwards in some way. It was really uplifting and one of the participants wrote to say they still felt refreshed by the experience the next day.
Death Cafe Picnic at Brookwood - Lunchtime Write up
Posted by EmmaCurtis on Sept. 20, 2018, 9:44 a.m.
We had 17 people for the death cafe, seated in 3 group on picnic blankets with supplied with chocolate brownies (with a portion of lemon drizzle for someone who doesn't like chocolate.) There were good conversations and participants could have kept talking beyond our DC session time, some did. There were a mixture of funeral professionals and members of the public. Chats ranged from what people might like for their own funerals, and exchanging personal stories and thoughts, to the ways that people mourn and how the bereaved often feel that they are being avoided by others.