What we’re about
Thank you for your interest!
The Orlando Death Collective will be our place to gather and discuss topics of death and dying in a judgment-free environment. My hope is to have an alternating format of Death Collective and Death Cafe, occurring monthly.
That means a Death Cafe where we'll group up and just talk death (with snacks!), then the Death Collective where I'm hoping to have guest speakers, interactive activities, screenings, and maybe field trips.
If that sounds fun to you, please join me! I'd be so glad to have you.
A few notes/rules about this group:
- THIS IS NOT A BEREAVEMENT GROUP OR A GRIEF SUPPORT GROUP. I am just a random person off the street -- I am not qualified to lead any kind of discussion on grief and counseling. For a few resources I've collected, see this spreadsheet.
2. Feel free to discuss your personal experiences, but please do not try to force your views on religion/politics/business onto anyone else (see more about business in rule #3).
3. ODC meetings should be our space to share educational and informational experiences while minimizing promotional interests. If you work in deathcare, please feel free to share your experience, but do not mention the name of the company you work for or any other business name. If you would like to promote your company, please do so after the event when meeting other group members, and add your information to the ODC spreadsheet.
4. If you're content to attend but not participate in group discussion, that's just fine! Please do not feel pressured to speak. Also, if you need to leave early, please feel free to do so. These are casual, informal events designed to be open forums.
- Be respectful and kind. We won't all agree on everything, but that's what makes the topic of death and dying so interesting! I believe the only experts on the topic are the dead; so there's not much room for any of us to debate. :)
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About me:
My name is Kristina! I learned about Death Cafes years ago and hoped to join one in Orlando but dropped the idea. Fast forward to this year, and in January, I began working for a deathcare corp (yes, I'll also be following rule #3 -- I won't be discussing my job), and my new role renewed my interest in end-of-life matters.
So, I decided to give this group a try, and if it draws enough interest, I'd be happy to keep it moving for possibly a year. If not, I'm sure it'll be a fun experiment either way.
When discussing this idea with a friend, they asked, "So, why are you obsessed with death now?" We laughed, but my hope is that with this group, that question will never come up.
Whether you just want to talk about your fear, fascination, or experiences, this is your place to do it in the spirit of death positivity.
