I am putting together a monthly Death Cafe in Tacoma! What is a Death Cafe you might ask? Well, it is an open format discussion model used to help the community talk about everything regarding death.
Creepy, right? Totally not creepy! These conversations tend to be open, candid and honest and usually we end up laughing. We touch on subjects from the reality of death, to traditions, body disposal, ghosts, what might happen after, and so on. Anything is open to talk about as long as we do it in a safe, inclusive manner.
I have run these before in Seattle and now I'm bringing it to Tacoma because we have a huge community of people who have dealt with grief or are just really afraid of things like death, it is such a taboo subject people don't always want to talk about it. But then there are people who are so curious or want ideas one how they would like to leave this earth or maybe want to go into end of life care and have no idea where to start. This little discussion in a safe place with cake and tea and coffee gives those people comfort and we can all talk about this sometimes heavy subject with others who are open and loving too.
I think it's important to be able to discuss things like this with like minded people, or people who will approach it in a kind manner. I also like to connect people to local resources during these events, whether it be a funeral Coop or something, or housing assistance, etc.
Death Cafe was originally started in England by Jon Underwood who was a personal friend of mine. He gave it to the world, and tragically left us in 2017. It has only grown stronger as a community, and people are usually very excited to attend them. I will hold them at least once a month, if not twice depending on how much interest the community has. Just because people say they'll come doesn't always mean they will but usually the turn out for these is great.