April 2, 2020

Dear friend,

I'm doing my part to "flatten the curve" by staying home--and it's given me a lot of time to be in my yard and savor spring as it unfolds around me. The daffodils, tulips, and hyacinth are blooming, and I've seen a few nests in my skip laurels. 

So much of life feels uncertain and unstable for me right now, but spring is right on time. It feels predictable and reliable. Birds are singing, trees are popping, and the weather is warming. I take some comfort in these earthly cycles. Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter to read a poem about spring (by Amy Gerstler) that really resonated with me.     

While we are under stay-at-home orders, I'm doing my best to go virtual with Death Positive DC.

If you would like a time and "place" to talk about death, please join me for some online events. I use Zoom for virtual gatherings, so you'll need to be able to run Zoom on your computer. 

Virtual Death Positive DC Events  

• Join me for a virtual knitting group TODAY--April 2nd--from 7-8:30 p.m. (eastern time). RSVP to sarah@deathpositivedc.com for the zoom link. You can knit, sew, color, paint...just do something creative with your hands while we discuss how COVID-19 is effecting our feelings about illness and death. 
• Grab your favorite tea/coffee and dessert and join me for an online death cafe on April 5th from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. (eastern time). RSVP here to reserve a spot and receive the link. 
• If you have ideas for events or workshops that would be helpful and supportive right now, please let me know. 

Other Events   

• Check the Death Positive DC Facebook account for a list of virtual events. There is an ongoing list in the announcement section as well as individual posts. As far as I know, all April in-person events are canceled. Some events are moving online, so check with the event organizer and confirm details for yourself. The Death Cafe organization has asked that all death cafes be held online for now.   

In Perpetual Spring

-By Amy Gerstler  

Gardens are also good places

to sulk. You pass beds of

spiky voodoo lilies

and trip over the roots

of a sweet gum tree,

in search of medieval

plants whose leaves,

when they drop off

turn into birds

if they fall on land,

and colored carp if they

plop into water.

Suddenly the archetypal

human desire for peace

with every other species

wells up in you. The lion

and the lamb cuddling up.

The snake and the snail, kissing.

Even the prick of the thistle,

queen of the weeds, revives

your secret belief

in perpetual spring,

your faith that for every hurt

there is a leaf to cure it.

"...faith that for every hurt there is a leaf to cure it." I'm going to ruminate on that for a while. I hope to connect with you online soon, either through Zoom or social media. Take good care, stay home as much as you can, and keep washing your hands.

Warmly,

Sarah 

Sarah Farr

(she/her/hers)

Founder & Director, Death Positive DC 

www.DeathPositiveDC.com

Facebook & Instagram & Twitter

Promoting conversations about death and connecting people around this topic

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