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SO Many. So many seeds.
I hope that we are sowing the seeds planted long, long ago — seeds of hope — hope for love, joy, freedom... for care, for safety, and for health; seeds of abundance, seeds that would grow as time passed... They had times of thriving, and other times they were not — in both cases, we are now the sowers and growers of what's here.
It is the seeds of hope that keep us interrupting one harm after another, seeds of hope that have us hopping from one thought cloud to another, seeds of hope that keep us from apathy, seeds of hope that keep us... they. keep. us.
This past month has been one for journaling. We started by hosting Oliver Farshi, a student from the International Center of Photography in New York. He stayed at Asphodel for about a week and a half, participating in the happenings around the home, helping with body care, meeting folks, and making some of the most softly evocative deathcare photos I have seen. We will all be able to see some of those after his project, A Place to Die, is complete!
A quote from Oliver, "Highly recommend. My time there was
life-changing and, I guess, death-changing, too: it absolutely changed
the way I relate to how and why we die."
We hope to welcome Oliver back this summer. For now you can catch new images by following his Instagram here.
In March, we also hosted our first three-day deathcare course in the house. It was lovely, and we had a sweet group of students — three from Orcas Island! The same weekend as our deathcare course, we had a guest at A Place to Die who wanted a three-day wake. They were comfortable with our class happening at the same time, and our students were as well. This was a magical opportunity to teach, to learn, and to observe how life and death can dance together so well.
April 20th ASP will dedicate the house on the one-year anniversary of Sally's death. With this gift of a home, we have been able to make a significant and lasting impact on each person who witnesses how death is done there: volunteers, medics, social workers, transportation techs, etc. Each time, we learn how our care can grow and how we can do better. With this home, we need financial support in a way we never have. Please stay tuned to hear how you can help us. Also, if you are a fundraiser and enjoy procuring things and service donations, don't hesitate to contact us.
We find ourselves sowing seeds full the desire to do better and we have just the right place to grow them.
Let's keep sowing and growing for the next 356 days.
Lashanna
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