Back in mid 2013, I launched my ‘end of life’ business, Sacred Hunger, just hoping it was possible to even run an ‘end of life’ business! I started with a Death Cafe which was a great success, and then a 3 week workshop called “Dying To..enhancing life by exploring death”. It too was a hit.
From that point on, I scheduled and co-ordinated pretty much monthly ‘end of life’ events here on the Central Coast. As the months and events rolled by, it became necessary for me to call upon other highly active ‘deathies’ from the community to help me on my mission, as juggling mothering, studying, working and local ‘end of life’ events was nearly killing me! (pun intended)
18 months on, we have what I believe must be one of the most active ‘end of life’ communities in Australia, from which I am pleased to say, the Central Coast End of Life Collective (CCEOLC) has been born!
Essentially, we are a group of people who are passionate about social change around ‘end of life’, who care enough to do something and to help lead other community members to grow through learning and exploring end of life issues. The group is non religious, however, we of course have our own individual spiritual and religious beliefs, as does everyone. These are not, however, pressed pun others.
The Collective currently consists of the following people:
Me, Gypsy Artemis: End of Life worker (Death Doula and Educator), Palliative Care Volunteer, Shamanic Midwife and artist…and Founder 🙂
Megan Pascoe: Teacher and counsellor
Raichyl Bantine: Death Doula
Clive Salzer: Ortho-Bionomy Practitioner and devotee of impermanence
Anthea Salzer: Ortho-Bionomy Practitioner In Training and loving companion to all
Peter Dunne: Nurse and Advance Care Planning workshop facilitator
Together, we plan, run and evaluate a plethora of End of Life events on the Central Coast of NSW, some of which include:
- Death Cafes
- Dying To See….film (with end of life themes) and discussion
- Dying to Know Day
- Day of the Dead Community Picnic
- Community End of Life Art exhibition
- Behind the Scenes Tour of Palmdale Crematorium
So what sort of people attend our events?
We come in all shapes, sizes and ages! I think it’s safe to say that many of us probably wouldn’t naturally come together for anything other than theses events – our passion for and interest in ‘end of life’ is the common ground – however, I cannot deny that many of us have developed lasting personal friendships that now extend beyond ‘end of life’.
Would you like to get involved and join The Collective?
We are certainly open to having more members! There are a few prerequisites:
- that you attend 75% of the scheduled meetings, either in the flesh or via Skype
- that you take on and do an equal share of planning, preparation, running and evaluation of our events
- that you ‘fit’ with the group. We’ve got a good thang going on, and it’s important that we nurture and maintain the equilibrium and connectedness of the group, by welcoming others who have similar values, commitment, etc.
There is currently no “membership fee”, however, I suspect we will soon arrive at a point where a small financial contribution is exchanged for exposure via publicity and related websites etc.
So where to from here?
To get onto the mailing list, or enquire about joining, please email gypsy@sacredhunger.com.au
And in closing, here’s our current calendar of events.
We hope to see you soon.
