Grief and Healing

 Navigating the Waters of Grief: Understanding and Coping with Loss

GRIEF IS NOT A PROBLEM TO SOLVE
Grief is a threshold and a doorway. A rearrangement. An ache that changes your name without asking.

Although you might have heard of the stages of grief, grief doesn’t follow steps. It doesn’t need fixing. It needs witnessing.
And sometimes, language, ritual, and space.

Here we walk with what hurts.
Here we remember that grief is sacred. And that you don’t have to carry it alone.

WHAT KIND OF GRIEF ARE YOU CARRYING?

Maybe it’s personal. The death no one understands. The heartbreak that never had a funeral. The way their name still echoes in a room you can’t enter.

Maybe it’s ancestral. The weight passed down. The migration. The exile. The silence. What you lost before you ever had it.

Maybe it’s ecological. The forests burning. The species gone or undergoing horrific abuse. The water turned against us. The grief of being alive on a dying planet.

Maybe it’s political. The losses no one counts. The systems that grind. The grief that lives in your activism. In your body. In your rage.

Whatever it is, it’s welcome here. And it’s not too much.

Ritual: Exploring Impermanence Through Nature

Grief demands a conversation with impermanence. Try this: Take something ephemeral: a leaf, a flower, a candle flame. Hold it in your hands. Feel its edges, its texture, its warmth or coolness. Now, close your eyes and listen. What does it tell you about change? About loss? About what remains?

Write down one thing you are afraid to lose. One thing that is already gone. One thing you want to carry forward.

Then, when you’re ready, release the object. Let the wind take the leaf. Let the flower return to the soil. Blow out the flame. And know that grief is not just an ending, it is also a doorway.

Materials Needed:

  • A small, natural object that represents impermanence (e.g., a leaf, flower, stone, or shell)

  • A quiet outdoor space, if possible

  • A journal or piece of paper and a pen

Steps:

  1. Find a Quiet Space: Choose a location where you feel peaceful and connected to nature. If you can’t go outdoors, bring a piece of nature inside with you, like a plant or a bowl of water.

  2. Settle and Reflect: Sit comfortably and hold the object you’ve chosen. Take a few deep breaths, allowing yourself to become fully present in the moment.

  3. Contemplate Impermanence: Look at the object in your hand. Consider its journey, how it came to be, how it has changed over time, and how it will eventually break down and return to the earth. Reflect on how everything in nature is in a constant state of change, including ourselves and our loved ones.

  4. Write Your Thoughts: After spending some time in reflection, write down your thoughts and feelings about impermanence. You might consider how this concept affects your understanding of grief, loss, and your own life.

  5. Letting Go: If you feel ready, you can perform a symbolic gesture of letting go. This might mean placing the object back into nature, burying it, or simply setting it down as a reminder that everything in life is temporary, yet deeply meaningful.

  6. Close the Ritual: End with a moment of gratitude for the lessons of impermanence and for the opportunity to connect with nature and yourself.

This ritual can be repeated whenever you need to reconnect with the idea of impermanence or when you’re feeling the weight of loss. It’s a gentle way to remind yourself that change is a natural part of life, and that in letting go, we make space for new growth.


WRITE YOUR GRIEF

Grief doesn’t always speak in full sentences. Sometimes it arrives in blur, in breath, in fragments.

Writing gives it form and allows it to breathe.

I created a dedicated page to help you begin. With rituals, prompts, and practices to write your grief into language.

➡️ Go to Write Your Grief →

YOU DON’T HAVE TO CARRY THIS ALONE

If you’re here, you’re carrying something heavy. I won’t tell you how to grieve.But I will walk beside you.

I will hold space for what aches. I will sit with the questions that don’t have answers. If you feel called to explore this together, you can reach out [here].

THIS PAGE IS A TOOL, NOT A CURE

There is no perfect way to grieve. But there are ways to make space for it.To honor it. To let it change you.

Use what you need. Leave what you don’t. You don’t have to rush. You don’t have to explain.

Just, stay with what’s real. Let your grief speak.

It’s trying to make something out of the ruins.