My
wife Elizabeth and I were privileged to host Canada’s 1st Death Cafe
in
the Church of Truth, Community of Conscious Living, in beautiful Victoria BC,
December
5, 2012 from 7- 8:45 PM. We had 51
people in attendance. Our thanks to everyone at the International Death Cafe
hub in London, England for helping make it so easy to produce!
As
soon as I learned of the Death Cafe I knew I had to put one
on. My life’s mission has been to
bring greater consciousness to death and certainly the Death Cafe accomplishes
that.
The
evening was a big success!
Participants fed-back it was “fun, expansive, comfortable, safe and
reassuring.”
We
were told (via the questionnaire) a rewarding time was had by all. Here are some quotes: “the concept was
awesome; “the format is worth your time and a safe place to be; “you will have a life changing
experience; “a great adventure, a great experience; “it’s interesting to know
other people have the same fears, concerns and insights.”
Allow
me to share a bit of what we did inside the Cafe:
We
had male and female greeters in the foyer - see photo of Hendrick DePagter
welcoming folks with warmth and appreciation for their courage to attend and
share their thoughts, feelings and experiences with other community members
about death.
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|
Foyer - Church
of Truth
|
 |
|
Hendrick graciously welcoming guests
Our
cafe tables were tastefully set with tablecloths, evergreen boughs, and tea
candles. Upon them sat our Death
Cafe menu along with pencils, paper and envelopes.
I
began with a welcome - and as we respectively do here in British Columbia thanked the Coast Salish, the 1st
Nations People upon whose land the church sits. I offered a prayer and then the gifted Norm Smookler played
his native flute.
After
Death Cafe instructions were read, confidentiality agreed to, we
set
off on a memorable and uplifting 1 hour and 45 minutes.
 |
There
was live, relaxing piano music being played by Michael van der Kamp
as
spirited and or quiet conversations flowed around the tables of the 51
participants.
All
throughout the evening people wrote out their difficult feelings or
uncomfortable memories which later were burned in a large clay vessel outdoors.
The
evening was highly structured... and participants were most cooperative in
following the suggested Cafe Entrees and its 2nd Course. The first half of the night was spent
talking about death and the second, about life!
 |
| A nourishing, relaxing setting for conversations to flow |
If
you look carefully at the photo above you will see (under the wall hanging)
two
tables to the right and left. They
were filled with pot luck finger foods and delicious desserts my wife Elizabeth
and others baked. Those who did
not bring food made donations to the church and to local and international
charities at the end of the event.
Close
to finishing, Jennifer Sagar, a talented singer-songwriter and guitarist
concluded
the evening with a rousing sing-along rendition of Will the Circle be Unbroken. Then I wrapped it up.
Elizabeth
and I loved hosting the Death Cafe.
We see it as a needed
medium
whose time has come! It’s truly
joyous “cutting edge” work / play and it complements my background and
developing work as an End-of-Life Coach - www.donmorris.ca.
Canada’s first Death Cafe would not have had such a
robust start
if it wasn’t for the Church of Truth, Community of
Conscious Living to which I belong.
Its’ Spiritual Directions Committee created four Sunday services in
November focussing
on death because the community wanted that, and thus the Death Cafe was a
natural fit! Thank you everyone at
the Church of Truth!
We ‘re grateful to Bernard Crettaz, the Swiss
sociologist who launched “Cafe Mortels” in 2010 and most appreciative to Jon
Underwood along with his colleagues are who anchoring the Death Cafe
International movement from London, England.
Don & Elizabeth Morris
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