Northern Virginia Ethical Society upcoming events

What a Death Doula Does, Does not Do, and What We Want You to Know (Sunday, October 04, 2026)

Sun, 04 Oct 2026 15:00:00 GMT

What a Death Doula Does, Does not Do, and What We Want You to Know

“What does a death doula do?” is the question I hear most often. The simple answer is that we support you as a mortal. We talk openly about death with you and those around you. We help you plan your best dying process. We educate, we listen, we hold hands. Here are what we do not offer: medical care or advice, legal information, burial services, or religious counseling. In our death-denying and avoidant lifestyle it is common to not know much about dying or death. Death doulas wish you took some time to consider your death and how to care for others in your life. We seek to improve life by facing death long before it is imminent.

Bio: Laura Lyster-Mensh, MS, is an American writer who has been founding organizations to solve problems all her life, including three international non-profits. She is the author of four books, and has produced four podcast projects. Laura serves as Death Doula in residence at Historic Congressional Cemetery in Washington DC and is a proud member of the DC Death Collective. She enjoys being old, and doesn’t mind being mortal

This meeting will be in-person only, as our sound system is not able to support Zoom at this time.

NoVES Philosophy Discussion Series (Monday, October 05, 2026)

Mon, 05 Oct 2026 23:00:00 GMT

NoVES Philosophy Discussion Series

NoVES' Philosophy Discussion Series - each month we will meet to discuss a topic that is fundamental to philosophy. This discussion will look at the thinking that determines ethical actions and explore the values and assumptions underlying these decisions.

What: NoVES Philosophy Discussion

Topic: The Philosophy of Happiness

When: 7-8:30 PM Monday night, October 5, 2026

Where: Fairfax Library, Meeting Room 101A

10360 North St, Fairfax, VA 22030

What is happiness? We will use the introduction to the book

The Philosophy of Happiness by Lorraine Besser as a springboard for discussion of difference Philosophical ideas of Happiness. Please sign up if you want to receive a pdf copy of the introduction, or you can look for the book online or in your local library.

We hope you will join us for our next Philosophy Discussion group.

This discussion group is sponsored by the Northern Virginia Ethical Society. All are welcome to attend.

Topical Trivia (Sunday, October 11, 2026)

Sun, 11 Oct 2026 15:00:00 GMT

Let’s have some fun playing topical trivia and discuss the bigger issues behind them for our Sunday, Zoom platform led by Jim Ball. We will also take some time to collectively generate ethical actions that we as a group can take

Zoom Link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87549911509?pwd=kglHZwgA9I5zl0cQyTQysUHv2jYqNS.1