October 15, 2019

I'll be at Iona's End of Life Expo on Nov. 2nd. Will I see you there?

Dear friend, 

Hello and Happy October--my favorite month! I'm writing with a few updates and to let you know about some upcoming events that might be of interest to you.  

Last month, I attended the living funeral ceremony offered by Emily Cross of Steady Waves End of Life Services (she was visiting from Texas). I wasn't sure what to expect or how I would feel. A family member was in the hospital that week, and I wondered if I could handle anything with the word "funeral" in it. 

Part of the ceremony was writing our final words, and I filled both sides of the paper. It was cathartic. Some people chose to share their final words, and listening to what they wrote was powerful and moving. I was surprised that I found the meditation on death (including being covered with a shroud) so tranquil and grounding. The entire evening was a deep, intimate, and profound experience that I am still processing. 

For me, it was a new and different way of reflecting on my own mortality. If you ever have the opportunity to participate in a living funeral or something similar, go for it! 

I also visited the National Museum for Women in the Arts and saw Judy Chicago's new exhibit, The End: A Meditation on Death and Extinction. It's open through Jan. 20, 2020. I highly recommend visiting this gem of a museum, especially while it has Chicago's exhibit on aging, death, and animal extinction. 

I recently drove to Baltimore for the International Edgar Allan Poe Festival. I toured Poe's house, saw the former hospital where he died, experienced a reimagining of his funeral, and visited his grave. If you are a Poe fan, I encourage you to take advantage of the Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum in Baltimore and the different events offered throughout the year.   

October is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. Today, October 15th, is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day, a day dedicated to remembering miscarriage, stillbirth, and infant loss. I want to share these resources and bring attention to this most important day. 

Death Positive DC Events 

• A death cafe at Rhizome on November 18th. 
• Iona Senior Services' inaugural event, the "End of Life Expo: Planning a Good Death" (see flyer) on Nov. 2nd. I'll be offering an abbreviated version of my obit writing workshop and I'll have a Death Positive DC table. The cost is $20 and scholarships are available. Register here. 
• Dates for 2020 death cafes coming soon! 

Other Events  

• Die Into Ecstasy, a guided meditation to experience the death of your body and mind, in DC on Oct. 30th. 
• Ellicott City Haunted Main Street Tours. 
• Congressional Cemetery's fall events. 
• Iona's End of Life Expo in DC, Nov. 2nd. 
• World Oddities Expo in Baltimore, Nov. 1-3.  
• Judy Chicago's exhibit, "The End: A Meditation on Death and Extinction," at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in DC. 
• Oak Hill Cemetery Book Club in DC on Nov. 13th. 
• Save the date! Life & Death Event in West VA, June 2020. 
• The announcements section of Death Positive DC's Facebook group. There's a running list of local MD/DC/VA events (organized by month). If you know of any relevant events or activities, please post them. Always confirm events for yourself as I may not be aware of changes. 

I'll leave you with a link to a beautiful Nick Drake song called From the Morning. I think he had a lot to say about life, death, and the passage of time. What does this song mean to you?  

Have a wonderful rest of October...Halloween is just a few weeks away! 

Take care, 

Sarah 

Sarah Farr

(she/her/hers)

Founder & Director, Death Positive DC 

www.DeathPositiveDC.com

facebook.com/groups/DeathPositiveDC

Instagram & Twitter: @deathpositivedc 

Promoting conversations about death and connecting people around this topic

through social media and in-person events in the DC-area since 2017.