I’ll be honest, I’m a regular at Creative Morning events. I love the range of speakers – Pete Davis,  Roxanne Gay, Carla Fernandez, Timothy Goodman to name a few. And I won’t lie, a good cup of coffee and a delicious breakfast – hosted by Harvest –the mix of seeing friends I’ve developed and meeting new people is even more of a delight. (Plus, my daughter and I usually see each other there and have coffee afterwards.) It’s my monthly dose of something new, usually outside my immediate interests, and that makes it exciting! And yet I almost eschewed the dance party… it felt frivolous – I’ve got lots of work to get done that’s exciting and important to me.

 

Creative Mornings starts at 8:30, often in Manhattan, yet last Friday it was in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Lucky for me, the stars aligned! Thursday night I spent over two hours at Sparrow Funeral Home (in BK) at a meeting with death doulas and a few other death care workers. (That meeting is another conversation.) It was an opportunity to see old friends, get reacquainted with newer colleagues, and forge new relationships. Afterwards, I stayed with my daughter overnight to walk the few blocks to Friends and Lovers hosting the Creative Mornings event the nexxt morning.

 

The nightclub is small—yet all the elements of a CM event were present: a welcoming sign, friendly volunteers greeting us, good coffee, delicious breakfast treats, and folks ready to connect with old friends and make new ones. Tina Roth Eisenberg, the creator of Creative Mornings, shared her thinking about why a dance party–essentially her message was, the world is upside down, let’s dance! And we did! The DJ was great, the disco ball, the lights, people loving what was an awesome way to start the day.

Unless you think it was all fun (which wouldn’t be a bad way to start the workday), I met an art therapist who accompanies people wishing to use psychedelics in their therapy–something I know a bit about because psychedelics are a newer area of interest in the end-of-life field,  in working with end-of-life fears. And, I connected with a woman who gave a 30-second pitch (a staple of CM events) because she’s developing a school for children from a Buddhist orientation. My background in curriculum development, Buddhism, meditation, and the expressive arts might just be a fit for a collaboration. Sadly, I had to leave early—I didn’t want to miss my meeting with bikablo global team members. What fun it was to see their surprise when I answered the check-in question, “How are you doing today?” with, “I’m sweaty and energized, just having come from a dance party— I feel great!”

How did you start your work day today?

Do you know Creative Mornings? There are chapters all over the world. Not only do they offer once-a-month events, but they also have fabulous Clubs to attend and Virtual Field Trips! I host the Open Door Death Café Club, and I appreciate CM’s willingness to support a range of opportunities for connection.

 

Check them out! And if you do, let me know what you think! Maybe you’ll come to our in-person Death Café in Manhattan!

 

 

 

PS: More fun photos!