ArtSpring:

Death Cafés and Cemetary Walks

Anna Haltrecht, ArtSpring (Salt Spring Island: WSÁNEĆ, Stz’uminus, Hul’qumi’num Treaty Group, and Tsawwassen Territory)

Death Cafés (6th annual)
The Death Café is part of a global movement “to increase awareness of death with a view to help people make the most of their (finite) lives” (deathcafe.com/). The Salt Spring Hospice Director first shared info about this work with Anna, and while the plan was to hold just one Café in 2014 as an outreach activity for Tara Cheyenne’s Highgate, the response has been so overwhelming that she has continued the project.

Death Cafe is a group directed discussion of death with no agenda, objectives or themes. People gather to eat cake, drink tea and discuss death. It is a discussion group rather than a grief support or counselling session. ArtSpring is grateful to Country Grocer for their sponsorship of this important program.

Cemetery Walk
Organized by Anna in the springtime, Dave Phillips, a long time Salt Spring resident and historian, tells stories about community members buried in Salt Spring’s Cemeteries.

Comments from Death Café participants:
“To express vulnerability and fear takes courage and builds strength. I appreciate the stories shared in the circle. Stories of death and dying that come in so many different shades and intensity, expanding my consciousness and appreciation for the cycle of life and decay. A community experience of loving kindness and sweet intimacy.”

“I look forward to Saturday afternoons at the Death Cafe, nestled in the lobby of ArtSpring Theatre, surrounded by beautiful artwork, where theatre productions, concerts and movies bring community together. 
Conversations around death and dying in this venue feel less morbid and more inspiring.”

“Please know how very valuable the Death Cafe is — to those of us who attend and to those of us who know that one day we inevitably shall attend. Truly you and your colleagues provide a powerful and affirming service in an atmosphere of very special clarity and compassion. 
How lucky Salt Spring is that the program has found a home here!”

Journal Entry: February 24, 2018
I came back from the Death Cafe feeling lighter, informed, and more joyful.
I realize that I have reached the seventh decade of life, a portal leading towards the end of life, date unknown.
Dying each day, as I live,
Living each day, as I die,
I value my everyday life.

To express vulnerability and fear takes courage and builds strength.
I appreciate the stories shared in the circle. Stories of death and dying that come in so many different shades and intensity,
expanding my consciousness and appreciation for the cycle of life and decay.
A community experience of loving kindness and sweet intimacy.
– Premilla Pillay