Some assumptions about grief

The experience of grief is unique for each of us. While we can make some general assumptions, there's no template that describes the experience for everyone. Grief is cumulative. That is, each time loss is grieved, the grief encompasses the…
elephant sitting on bench

Dying without an elephant

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Toward the end of my brother’s life, he spent every waking hour in a faux-leather armchair by his living room window. He was companioned by the puff-puff-puffing of an oxygen concentrator, a walker with a basket full of pills, a laptop that…

A Conversation with a Widow’s Nervous System

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The pain of loss is such an isolating experience, where the outside and inside of us are not aligned. We are out of sync with humanity, and yet we are inside an experience that each and every one of us will have.

‘I Am Rushing:’ a Mantra of Love and Memory

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I have just returned from spending time with a dear friend and her husband. They are living in what I have come to call “Illness Time” ­ not a period of time spent ill, but time itself defined by illness.
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An Apprenticeship with Sorrow

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Francis Weller views grieving our current, as well as our "untended" sorrows, as essential for the freedom and vitality of our souls. He says, “Learning to welcome, hold, and metabolize sorrow is the work of a lifetime.”