Loss/Grief

So often, its only after you lose someone or something that you realize how important they are to you. Grief has so many ways of making this point; the nagging, empty feeling, the disorientation, the almost out of body aloneness. The great and wise philosopher Lemony Snicket said it best for me, It is a ... Continue Reading »

I was in the dollar store. Buying brightly coloured plastic landfill, and crying. Did everyone else feel like me? I looked around – it was hard to tell as they filled their shopping carts with crap. I held fart putty in one hand while tears streamed down my cheeks. Nothing was funny. My kids do ... Continue Reading »

“I wish I could show you when you are lonely or in darkness the astonishing light of your own being.” Hafiz When it comes to grief, each person has to find their own healing in their own time and way. One of the hardest parts of grief is to feel alone. It never feels like ... Continue Reading »

How do you communicate with an emotion? This is not about talking ABOUT your feelings, but talking TO your feelings. It’s important, because emotional intelligence depends on a healthy two way communication loop; knowing which emotions are speaking and what messages they’re sending, and effectively sending messages back to them. So how do you to ... Continue Reading »

Life’s toughest moments hold the seed of great growth – thorns have roses, tears have heart and trauma has strength. There is wisdom in wounds, perspective in pain and growth in grief. Let the pain make you compassionate and strong, not bitter. Your life is a rose reaching for light. Keep going. Keep growing.

Overcoming loss is like living near a waterfall. At first the sound is deafening, and relentless. Then hours pass without the sadness pounding through your head. Slowly the noise subsides as you realize that grief is ONE of your emotions, but grief doesn’t own you. It’s always there, but tears carve new hope out of ... Continue Reading »

I lost someone very important to me last week. I knew he was important, but didn’t realize how significant until after he was gone. Sadness kept reminding me with a nagging, empty feeling. Suddenly the world looked like a different place and it took a while to get my bearings. The words of the great ... Continue Reading »

It’s St Patrick’s Day and an Irishman is getting ready to jump to his death from a bridge when a Priest walks past. The man sees the Priest and says, “Don’t try to stop me father. I’ve made my decision. I’m going to jump.” ” It can’t be that bad,” says the Priest, “Think of ... Continue Reading »

For more of Cheryl’s articles, please visit her blog. In his lovely volume called The House of Belonging (Many Rivers Press, 1997), wiseman and poet David Whyte says, “…anything or anyone/ that does not bring you alive/ is too small for you.”* Could it be that grief has become too small for me? That’s what ... Continue Reading »

The more things change, the more they remain…insane. Over the Hedge Change involves three steps, in no particular order- endings, beginnings and the ambiguous middle ground in between. Lets call that middle ground, begendings. It seems appropriate to make up a word for this ambiguous middle ground. Do you ever know for sure which point ... Continue Reading »

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end. Seneca Some people find their inspiration from the great religious texts. Others find it in classic literature. As for me, I find it in sitcoms. Seinfeld, The Office, Modern Family, King of Queens and the like. I’m just a simple man who appreciates light hearted wisdom ... Continue Reading »

One of the hardest aspects of grief is to feel alone. This video offers comfort that you are not alone and you don’t have to do it all yourself. Noone has the exact same experience of loss as you, and yet loss is a universal experience. It unites you with people across the ages who have loved ... Continue Reading »

Having allowed all the full range of grief’s emotions to move you, mess with you, mould you and make you who you are today, you may feel ready to pull yourself out of the funk and move forward with a greater sense of peace. You will never be the same again. But that is true ... Continue Reading »

“I wish I could show you when you are lonely or in darkness the astonishing light of your own being.” Hafiz One of the hardest parts of grief is to feel alone. It never feels like anyone else truly understands because each experience of grief is personal and unique. Being alone in grief is also ... Continue Reading »

There is an awesome episode of the TV Sitcom The Office about grief counseling, when a former manager dies. Michael Scott gathers the staff together and describes his feelings in graphic detail. It feels like somebody took my heart, and dropped it into a bucket of boiling tears. And at the same time, somebody else ... Continue Reading »