Author Archives: ancarroll
Grief 101: Is Grief the Same as Depression?
Our society seems to approach grief as though it were another name for depression. This probably stems from our association of negative emotions with depression. The conflation of the two together does both grief and depression a disservice because they are not the same.
Monday Meditation: Free to Walk Away
Grief can make us feel confined, stuck, frozen in place. The restrictions put upon us during this pandemic may exacerbate those feelings, especially while grieving. Rather than look at the way in which grief (and life) have shrunk because of our current circumstances, what if you saw the things you were able to release yourselfContinue reading “Monday Meditation: Free to Walk Away”
Book Review: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck (Mark Manson)
This is not the book I expected. Nor did I expect to list this on my website as a helpful book for reevaluating your life after a loss. I thought this book was going to be about not caring so much about anything and letting everything go. It is not. (Warning: lots of f*cks (noContinue reading “Book Review: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck (Mark Manson)”
Monday Meditation: A Calming Place
To focus on yourself, on your self-care, and on your body’s needs, you must have a calming place to which you can retreat. However, ongoing pandemic restrictions make this difficult. This is a moment in which we must adapt the best we can to a less-than-desirable situation.
Monday Meditation: Open Your Focus to Compassion
When we focus on ourselves while suffering, when we wallow in our despair, it is easy for us to shut out other people’s experiences and other events in the world. While we need to take care of ourselves to heal from, and process, our suffering, we can become so taken with ourselves that it beginsContinue reading “Monday Meditation: Open Your Focus to Compassion”
Father’s Day 2020
As those of us who have lost our fathers and father-figures celebrate relationships with loved ones no longer present, let us remember the lessons and love they gave us.
The Privilege of Dying
Breanna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd. Three martyrs were born between February and May, 2020. Their deaths graphically highlighted the system of oppression and weak peace that exists in the United States of America. Their deaths have torched the veil of White American ignorance concerning inequality, police brutality, and institutionalized racism.
Monday Meditation: What’s Going On?!
Monday Mediation: Set Goals
The last thing that may come to mind when thinking of grief is the prospect of setting goals for yourself. Rather, grief seems to be a time when there are no goals to be found. Grief, in fact, is a chance to rethink what your goals have been and to develop new ones. Grief mayContinue reading “Monday Mediation: Set Goals”
Monday Meditation: Keep Breathing
After I lost my mother, I started driving from home to work (Richmond, VA to Washington, DC) instead of taking the train. I found driving and listening to music very therapeutic. I would put on my Pandora radio and still as loudly and as vivaciously as I could while driving.
8 Ways to Take Life Slowly While Grieving During a Pandemic
Social distancing slows life down for us and changes what we consider normal. We may feel lazier and more unproductive than usual when we actually aren’t. During isolation, there aren’t many chances for big or impulsive decisions, like job changes or moves. Financial matters may become more urgent, deliberate, and purposeful, especially if you’re unemployedContinue reading “8 Ways to Take Life Slowly While Grieving During a Pandemic”
Monday Meditation: Interconnection
Loss is a point where we realize that, despite our penchant for independence, we are massively interconnected. Life becomes drastically different when one person is missing from it. Grief is the ripping open of interconnectedness, and it is the gradual healing of that wound. We live on a delicate spider web, through which we touchContinue reading “Monday Meditation: Interconnection”
The Joy of Coloring
In the aftermath of his professional split from Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung began an experiment of writing and reflection on his life and career. Jung wrote of visions and fantasies he had as he opened himself to a confrontation with his unconscious during his personal struggles. Later he added complementary imagery, mostly in the formContinue reading “The Joy of Coloring”
Monday Meditation: The Promise (Tracy Chapman)
I listened to “The Promise” the other day while playing with my daughter. I hadn’t heard it in years. Amidst pandemic uncertainties, my first Mother’s Day as a motherless mother, and missing my mom, the lyrics touched me deeply. The first Mother’s Day without my mother was difficult. The ones since then have largely passedContinue reading “Monday Meditation: The Promise (Tracy Chapman)”
