19/01/2025
n January EoRC hosted a simple and very moving ceremony of remembering - recalling those we miss and love. As the ritual progressed we got a sense of a much larger gathering surrounding us, as we connected with those near and far. It was really heart-warming.
Next month, February, we will not be meeting and the next gathering at Roselidden will be unusually in the second week of March, on the 12th.
This will also herald a new development.
During the last ten years of End of the Road Cafe we have talked about the taboo of death and dying, the pragmatics of the dying process, as well as the emotional rollercoaster that it is.
We have talked about what we fear and what we would like for our own deaths, as well as for our loved ones.
And we have been encouraged to put into place necessary conversations and arrangements.
During that time I have noticed a gradual increase in articles and conversations about death and dying in many forums throughout our society, and am much cheered that it is not as ignored as it was, though there is still a lot more to be said yet.
I have also noticed an increasing sense of grief which is not alway allowed to be acknowledged fully. So it now feels timely to widen out from the original remit of the death cafe, and to also offer a space for grief. Grief for all kinds of loss that we feel deeply.
As of our meeting in March, I will be offering a slightly different format, starting with simple exercises to connect with our breath and heart, before enjoying a warming drink and conversation together. I am hoping this will allow us to connect more with how we are dealing with the strong issues of grief, loss and dying, on whatever level we find them.
I do hope you will join me on the 12th and thereafter, resuming our more usual pattern of the first Wednesdays of each month, 10.30 - noon.
