Reflecting on One Year of This Mortal Life
One year ago this month, I launched This Mortal Life.
I didn’t really know what the year ahead would hold. I simply knew that I wanted to create spaces where people could gather with intention, have the conversations we so often avoid, make things with their hands, spend time in nature, and remember that none of us are meant to carry life alone.
A year later, we’ve completed a full turn of the Wheel of the Year through eight seasonal gatherings. I’ve facilitated Death Cafés, Dead Curious events, Craft & Chat Sessions with Weston Artspace and Silent Book Club of Death gatherings. We’ve shared food, stories, questions, grief, laughter and creativity. And we’ve formed Mortal Companions, a virtual peer support space for those who walk close to death in life and work.
Alongside all of that, I’ve kept a promise I made to myself when I began: to get back into the practice of writing by writing at least one blog every month. Writing and sharing reflections, ideas and useful resources has become one of the ways I’ve made sense of the year and the themes we explore through this community. It’s been a really brilliant tool for processing and recording the journey, which I’m really enjoying.
More than anything, though, this first year has clarified why I’m doing this. I believe that creative connection is one of the ways we build resilience for difficult times. We live in a world that constantly pulls us towards distraction, isolation and individualism. We are encouraged to consume rather than create, to cope alone rather than ask for help, and to keep moving rather than pause and pay attention to what is happening around us. I think gathering together is a small but meaningful way of resisting the chaos of the world.
When we learn to stay present with where we are, find joy in simple pleasures, and build resilient communities capable of holding both beauty and hardship, we become better equipped to face an uncertain world. That is what This Mortal Life is trying to cultivate: spaces where we can explore what it means to live, grieve, belong and care for one another, while questioning the systems and habits that disconnect us from ourselves, from each other and from the living world.
It’s been a wonderful journey allowing things to evolve naturally and experiment to see if what I’m offering is resonating. It’s an ongoing experiment in what becomes possible when we create opportunities to gather differently; with more intention, more curiosity, more creativity and more willingness to talk about the things that make us human.
If that vision resonates with you, I’d love for you to be part of what comes next. You can reach out for a chat, join me at an event, invite me to come speak or facilitate a workshop with your community group, or sign up to the monthly newsletter to hear about upcoming gatherings, workshops, new writing and other opportunities to connect.
And to everyone who has walked alongside me during this first year, thank you. Whether you’ve come to an event, read a blog, shared a conversation, offered one of those much-needed pep talks, or simply followed along from afar, you’ve helped shape what This Mortal Life is becoming.
I’m incredibly grateful for the connections I’ve made this past year and the learning opportunities as well. And I’m pleased to share that there’s already lots in the works for year two, and I’m excited to see where it takes us.
Here’s to another year of gathering, creating, questioning, remembering, grieving, celebrating and building together. I hope to see you soon!
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