Death Cafe write-ups
Hello fellow mortals! Thank you to those who delved and dipped into our death discussions during the first-of-2021 Death Café – Hillsborough (DC-H) Zoom call! Welcome to the five new folx! Zoom offers a different dynamic from meeting in person and allows people to participate from long distances (NC mountains, GA and CA this time). We are grateful for UMC allowing us to use their Zoom account. If you have not yet sent a few dollars to say thanks for Wednesday’s get together, here is their website: uniongroveumc.org and mailing address: United Methodist Church, Rev. Rich Greenway, 6407 Union Grove Church Road, Hillsborough, NC 27278. Thank you ...
11 of us came together for our November meeting of the CWDC, with participants dialling in from London, Essex and Edinburgh, California, Florida, New England and New Jersey.
Our discussion opened with an appreciation of silence, and the value of coming together to create and hold space for one another’s reflections. Later in our conversation, we reflected further on our own, differing, relationships with silence. Silence was likened to marmite – some people love it, whilst others loathe it. We also thought about the acclimatising that silence sometimes requires – gradual exposure and positive experiences supporting a greater tolerance (a comparison was made with chilli peppers). We also thought ...
Death Cafe Whangarei No. #12 Write up
Posted by Jo Moselen on Jan. 3, 2021, 6:02 p.m.
We met a t Dickens Inn, the separate room was occupied so we met in the main area of the cafe. Meeting at cafes always brings the issue of noise and difficulty of hearing. There were a group of 9 of us a couple of new people and regular attendees. A range of topics were discussed including end of life choice bill (which was voted in in the 2020 Government election) advance life planning, personal experiences of the death of a loved one and beliefs about after death. It was a lively discussion with most people getting a chance to contribute. 2 hours goes so quickly.
Death Cafe Whangarei No.11 Write up
Posted by Jo Moselen on Jan. 3, 2021, 5:49 p.m.
This DeathCafe did not happen due to covid restrictions
Death Cafe Whangarei Write up
Posted by Jo Moselen on Jan. 3, 2021, 5:46 p.m.
A lively cafe with 13 people attending.
6 of us met for our last meeting of 2020. Two people were attending their first Death Café. Our discussion moved in different directions, and themes included the news of the Covid-19 vaccine and anniversaries at this time of year.
Are we emerging from the pandemic? We discussed our own thinking around the vaccine beginning to become available, and the theme of personal responsibility as we wait for it to be rolled out.
Learning of a tragic bereavement at a time when loved ones cannot be together was another experience about which someone shared.
We talked about the experience of a parent losing their child, and the devastation ...
Online Death Cafe (October)
Evaluation Summary
Evaluations: 6 submitted
Attendees: 1 facilitator, 10 attendees
Our October Death Cafe combined both the continued attention on death related to Covid-19 that has been such a big part of 2020 as well as its timing so close to Samhain, Halloween, Day of the Dead and All Souls Day to name some of those markers of this time of year. They signify the changing season towards winter, a season of death and renewal as well as other celebrations that connect in some way to death.
This was our eighth Death Cafe (our fifth time doing it online using Zoom). Similar numbers to ...
Death Cafe Iowa Online CST Write up
Posted by DeathCafeIowa on Dec. 22, 2020, 1:09 p.m.
For our December Death Café Iowa we met on Zoom. Buffy Peters and Becca Suvalsky from the Bereavement Professionals Group facilitated the group. In total there were 7 people in attendance, 2 men and 5 women, and participants ranged in ages and professions. We had individuals join from Iowa and California. Several interesting topics were brought forward for discussion.
A few topics included:
How talking about the end of life brings people together. Especially right now a lot of people seem to be realizing that they have a knowledge gap when it comes to death and dying. How we have seen death in our lives is how we ...
Sept 2020
11 attendees from across Australia and internationally. Great discussions around demystifying death, the importance of increasing our community's death literacy; learning the art of celebrating life and that death is part of life. And an interesting two new themes - one on death related to domestic violence and the importance of counsellors being comfortable to talk about death; and also how to education financial planners who engage with persons who have been just diagnosed with a life limiting condition; or are nearing end of life and have a terminal diagnosis - and better understanding the range of emotions and choices that may influence how people save/spend ...
November 2020
A small intimate group of 6 of us - connecting virtually across 2 states of Australia. No international attendees this time. We spoke about euphemisms and that a few of us believed that using the words that the bereaved person was most comfortable about was 'good enough' with one example of how a family had told me (as their Funeral Celebrant) to please not use the word "died" but instead "passed away" in one section of the ceremony. They felt it was 'softer' and less raw for them. We had attendees who were pastoral care, support worker residential aged care, End of Life Doulas, pall care volunteers ...
Hello fellow mortals! Thank you to those who delved and dipped into our death discussions during the November 11th Death Café – Hillsborough (DC-H) Zoom call! Welcome to the SIX new folx (and welcome back to someone who hadn’t dropped in since 2018)! Zoom offers a different dynamic from meeting in person and allows people to participate from long distances (GA, MN, and OR this time). **Mark your calendars for the next DC-Hillsborough on January 13th, 6pm-8pm, via Zoom meeting. Look for a reminder I’ll email 2-3 days prior *which will include the Zoom link*. DC-H will not occur in December. SUMMARY: • Topics we discussed and shared ...
Tucson Online MST Friendly & Fearless Death Cafe Write up
Posted by TucsonFFDeathCafe on Nov. 8, 2020, 1:10 p.m.
As of today, October 27th, 2020, 69 out of every 100,000 people in the United States have died from Covid-19. Total deaths in the world are 1,161,422 (cnn.com). A few numbers on a page, many beautiful lives lived and lost. Rest in peace. It’s Halloween week 2020 and I mused months ago how dancing skeletons and these new facts of death might impact the holiday. Unknown. Stay Safe. I don’t want to fathom reporting something unimaginably scarier this time next year.
The two U.S. presidential candidates said recently regarding the pandemic, “…we’re learning to live with it,” and conversely ...
Tucson Online MST Friendly & Fearless Death Cafe Write up
Posted by TucsonFFDeathCafe on Nov. 8, 2020, 12:52 p.m.
A world-renowned wise person once said, “some people need an enemy.” When I heard that I played out Robin Hood scenes of shields, swords, bows and arrows and blood. In the fog of horses kicking up dirt in my head I was no closer to solid ground. I knew I’d never felt or behaved as if I needed an enemy. An even more stunning revelation was that I knew I couldn’t be an enemy. To the aggressors perhaps that’s a win as I’d be appreciating the dappled sunlight through the trees as I lay face up, run through with a scabbard, my life force ...
Tucson Online MST Friendly & Fearless Death Cafe Write up
Posted by TucsonFFDeathCafe on Nov. 8, 2020, 12:47 p.m.
The experience of having a parent die can jump start our thinking about our own mortality. At a recent Café an attendee mused, “it’s like a veil is gone, and you’re next.” We’ve talked a lot about how death related experiences in our youth either comfort us or leave us questioning. One woman discovered an entry in her departed mother’s diary recounting her own mother’s death, and realized that as a young teen she hadn’t been included in this major family event. Parents often struggle with whether to expose their children to death or not in an effort to protect them. Of ...
Tucson Online MSTFriendly & Fearless Death Cafe Write up
Posted by TucsonFFDeathCafe on Nov. 8, 2020, 12:12 p.m.
“If I go towards it (death), it’s incredible and informs my life.” “Anticipation is killing me... learning to embrace the whole thing from beginning to end…what I’ve learned, regrets, beauty, and being accountable to my friends. To go beyond who we’ve been, beyond fate.” Once I came up with these three words, “deliberate life completion,” I found freedom. Powerful statements from last week’s Café! Gratitude to all the bright embodied souls who visit our Tucson Café and share stories, struggles, and big life wisdom.
The dying wish is something of legend, of quest, a sacred trust. Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s dying wish was ...