Discussions of death in an environment of tea and cake is what the Death Café is all about. The Death Café follows the model developed by Bernard Crettaz of Switzerland and refined in England. The objective of Death Café is to “increase awareness of death with a view to helping people make the most of their finite lives.” To date, there have been 2,681 Death Cafes in 32 countries.
Refreshment, a comfortable seat and interesting company are prerequisites for visiting any café, even if the conversation is about death. The concept is straightforward enough. People meet to talk about death for a couple of hours. Death Cafés are offered with no intention of leading participants to any particular conclusion, product or course of action.
The atmosphere is an open and respectful space where people can share personal experiences of death.
The next Death Café is held at Serious Coffee in Courtenay on Sunday Jan. 24 from 2-4 p.m. Visit www.deathcafe.com for more information and history of this event.