Alex, thank you! I lost my dad when I was seven and wasn’t allowed to grieve. I’ve been in therapy a long time but only about a month ago did I attend a grief support group. It was a revelation to connect with a woman who’d lost her mom as a kid. Sharing our grief in community is crucial to healing. I’m so glad you posted this!
It’s like you read my mind. I’m wanting to speak more openly about grief as it’s become a dear friend of mine the last few years as I’ve allowed myself to dive in and FEEL. It’s not a box to check, like “ok, I’ve done grief now, I can move on.” Grief is a part of being ALIVE, a spiral path that we will revisit more than a few times. I hope/pray that we can all learn to shine light on the gifts that grief brings, taking note of its arrival as an invitation to experience more of the fullness of life.
Alex, thank you for sharing these heartfelt reflections and reminders. I attended a grief workshop last week, and it touched on the idea you shared, that grief teaches us how to hold ourselves. For so long, I ran from my grief; felt overwhelmed by its magnitude. But I am beginning to see how much grief can teach us about our needs, and when we allow it, to give us a fuller appreciation of life's joys and beauties. I appreciate you sharing your photos with us, as well, and I'm happy that you've found your own path to healing. 💗
Those photos are beautiful and raw. They capture your humanity during a painful time. I am glad you didn't delete them, but instead decided to share. 💜
Alex this was truly beautiful. Thank you for sharing your vulnerability & truth. It helps so many. Your words “trusting fhat I will not vanish into the depths of my darkness” really spoke to me - thank you for sharing. A beautiful voice ❤️
Grieving is one of the most important things I’ve experienced in my healing journey, and it took so much time for me to be okay with allowing myself to feel it all. I find it very tiring too, so I have to allow myself space for rest when the wave is gone.
Being in therapy helps immensely for support and providing space for grieving.
And of course this is all especially complex since I grew up in a house where I was told I was “too sensitive” and I learned to swallow and hide my feelings away.
Thank you for this post. It’s stirred up some things for me that I want to journal about. 💛
To die well is to live well, as they say - and perhaps there is also something to be said for grieving well. One thing I've discovered this year is the song 'No Hard Feelings' by the Avett Brothers which beautifully captures the essence of 'letting go' at the time of death. Life and death offer us so many challenges and opportunities to learn.
Stunning photos! My goodness, I'm so glad you did not delete them. Your message about grief meets me in a safe space because it describes where I am after losing two aunts within less than 3 months of each other this past summer. I have had to surrender to the force that moves me in a direction that the controlling type A in me resists. After seasons of softening and allowing my edges to be smoothed, this was the next leg of the journey and I've had to TRUST Spirit and LISTEN within and within only. A beginner's mindset is required because it is pliable and receptive to truth that brings understanding-surpassing peace. I take on the posture of humility because it is a lubricant in life's tightest spaces, I've found and it is a lifelong message that I carry in my heart from an elder who is now an ancestor, and she was a hell raiser, so I definitely know how important it is! LOL All of that to say, thank you, Sister. You're solid in simplicity and magnanimously mindful. I appreciate you!
I lost my brother almost 5 months ago. A part of me died that day. My grief counselor reminds me often that pain demands to be felt. This was the most beautiful and spot on depiction of the pain. The beauty the love the ache the strength the hope…I long for the day I can live without it consuming my life. Thank you for this . ♥️
“And still, I am learning that healing often begins with trusting myself to explore the path before me.” On my own journey, this felt like such a turning point for me - when I felt the distinction between making my life about healing and letting my life be the catalyst that did heal me. The latter being the gold. ✨
Alex, thank you! I lost my dad when I was seven and wasn’t allowed to grieve. I’ve been in therapy a long time but only about a month ago did I attend a grief support group. It was a revelation to connect with a woman who’d lost her mom as a kid. Sharing our grief in community is crucial to healing. I’m so glad you posted this!
It’s like you read my mind. I’m wanting to speak more openly about grief as it’s become a dear friend of mine the last few years as I’ve allowed myself to dive in and FEEL. It’s not a box to check, like “ok, I’ve done grief now, I can move on.” Grief is a part of being ALIVE, a spiral path that we will revisit more than a few times. I hope/pray that we can all learn to shine light on the gifts that grief brings, taking note of its arrival as an invitation to experience more of the fullness of life.
Alex, thank you for sharing these heartfelt reflections and reminders. I attended a grief workshop last week, and it touched on the idea you shared, that grief teaches us how to hold ourselves. For so long, I ran from my grief; felt overwhelmed by its magnitude. But I am beginning to see how much grief can teach us about our needs, and when we allow it, to give us a fuller appreciation of life's joys and beauties. I appreciate you sharing your photos with us, as well, and I'm happy that you've found your own path to healing. 💗
Those photos are beautiful and raw. They capture your humanity during a painful time. I am glad you didn't delete them, but instead decided to share. 💜
I needed these words. Your open grief comforted my own. Thank you for sharing 🙏🏼
Alex, This is one of the most insightful pieces on grief that I have ever read. D
Thank you, Alex, for this beautiful piece about the nature of grief and the necessity to "bear witness" to it.
What soothed and lightened me most, maybe:
- "To bear witness to our grief is to realize that it is trapped love entangled in our soul."
- the notion that grief is an act of courage...Actually, I'd even say that it is an act of defiance!
Again, thank you!
Alex this was truly beautiful. Thank you for sharing your vulnerability & truth. It helps so many. Your words “trusting fhat I will not vanish into the depths of my darkness” really spoke to me - thank you for sharing. A beautiful voice ❤️
“Trapped love in our entangled soul”. Thank you.
These photos. These words. Love.
Grieving is one of the most important things I’ve experienced in my healing journey, and it took so much time for me to be okay with allowing myself to feel it all. I find it very tiring too, so I have to allow myself space for rest when the wave is gone.
Being in therapy helps immensely for support and providing space for grieving.
And of course this is all especially complex since I grew up in a house where I was told I was “too sensitive” and I learned to swallow and hide my feelings away.
Thank you for this post. It’s stirred up some things for me that I want to journal about. 💛
To die well is to live well, as they say - and perhaps there is also something to be said for grieving well. One thing I've discovered this year is the song 'No Hard Feelings' by the Avett Brothers which beautifully captures the essence of 'letting go' at the time of death. Life and death offer us so many challenges and opportunities to learn.
Stunning photos! My goodness, I'm so glad you did not delete them. Your message about grief meets me in a safe space because it describes where I am after losing two aunts within less than 3 months of each other this past summer. I have had to surrender to the force that moves me in a direction that the controlling type A in me resists. After seasons of softening and allowing my edges to be smoothed, this was the next leg of the journey and I've had to TRUST Spirit and LISTEN within and within only. A beginner's mindset is required because it is pliable and receptive to truth that brings understanding-surpassing peace. I take on the posture of humility because it is a lubricant in life's tightest spaces, I've found and it is a lifelong message that I carry in my heart from an elder who is now an ancestor, and she was a hell raiser, so I definitely know how important it is! LOL All of that to say, thank you, Sister. You're solid in simplicity and magnanimously mindful. I appreciate you!
I lost my brother almost 5 months ago. A part of me died that day. My grief counselor reminds me often that pain demands to be felt. This was the most beautiful and spot on depiction of the pain. The beauty the love the ache the strength the hope…I long for the day I can live without it consuming my life. Thank you for this . ♥️
Such a much needed cushion to rest on of comfort. A reminder to free yourself through allowing yourself to feel, and that's okay.
“And still, I am learning that healing often begins with trusting myself to explore the path before me.” On my own journey, this felt like such a turning point for me - when I felt the distinction between making my life about healing and letting my life be the catalyst that did heal me. The latter being the gold. ✨