Contemplating Death: A Poetic Invitation

In her poem, "When Death Comes," Mary Oliver wrote: "When it's over, I don't want to wonder if I have made of my life something particular, and real. I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened, or full of argument. I don't want to end up simply having visited this world." Yet many of us do fear death, denying it will come to us, putting off our living for tomorrow as if time will forever be on our side. What if contemplating death is an invitation to fully live now? What if facing our impermanence is an opening to be more present to each day, living aligned with what matters to us, praising and honoring who and what we love? In this workshop, certified grief coach and death midwife Naila Francis will use poems to explore our fears, doubts and uncertainties around death and dying, which all of us will do sooner or later. If death is inevitable, what can we do now to begin preparing for the end, to live with greater meaning and purpose, appreciating how brief our time on Earth actually is. We will write into these explorations using poems and reflections on death as a framework to guide and support us.