Death Island Disc
It’s a four hour round trip from Borley Green to Covent Garden, discounting the time spent staring at the departure board.
So four hours to spend another two talking about death may sound a little strange.
On the 26th November I visited the Wild Food Cafe in Covent Garden. A Death Cafe was being held there by Anja Saunders and Kate Hambleton. Thirty people sat in the cafe, ate and drank and shared their thoughts on life and death. It was a thought provoking and positive experience
The quote of the evening for me was ‘Today is a good day to die.’ Had you lived your life as you wanted and achieved your goals? What about the important stuff, telling people you loved them and all the other stuff you mean to say but never do? No, today would not be a good day to die for me. Too much left unsaid and undone.
Kate spoke about having a death song. American Indians had one they would chant throughout their lives and which would then give them comfort in times of adversity.
What would be my ‘Death Island disc’ I speculated. Difficult to say, but it would have to bring a smile to my face, the King Louie song from the Jungle Book perhaps?
A man sitting next to me, with some hesitation, spoke of the death of his father and of his love and loathing for him. Did it help I don’t know. I’ve always found expressing my own thoughts out loud therapeutic.
The evening throbbed with positive energy. A microphone passed round the room and people gave us glimpses of their lives and of their loss.
A year to live, How would you live your life if you only had 12 months to live? It makes you think.
We were asked to think about death. Do I fear death? No. Really? Not sure.
Would I be sad if my children died absolutely. But would I have wanted to live without them absolutely not.
Several people spoke of the deaths they had experienced, often quite sudden.
The Death Cafe made it okay to talk about death, made it natural. After all we must all die someday.
Well done to Kate and Anja for a great evening.
For more information on the Death Cafe go to http://www.deathcafe.com
