Monday Meditation: Persevering

Grief isn’t just one experience that hangs out for a bit and then disappears. Grief is a very long road broken up into shorter segments that piggyback onto one another for the remainder of a griever’s life. Outsiders often mistake grief for a one-and-done experience: someone dies, you get sad, you deal with it, you’reContinue reading “Monday Meditation: Persevering”

Monday Meditation: Fall Now, Stand Later

One of the most significant misunderstandings concerning grief is the belief that grief is a one-and-done experience: loss happens, you get sad, you gradually become happier, and then, one day, grief is gone for good. The belief is helpful to grief supporters, who sometimes act as though our grief is a drag. The sooner weContinue reading “Monday Meditation: Fall Now, Stand Later”

Monday Mediation: Rest Slowly

Rest plus quiet does not equal stopping. It means going slowly. In the act of lying fallow, the ground continues to engage life as the soil replenishes its nutrients and prepares itself for planting again. The action is happening below the surface, out of sight. Just because it is hidden from view does not meanContinue reading “Monday Mediation: Rest Slowly”

Monday Meditation: Is Loved and Lost Better?

Is it? Ask a griever in the pain of missing a loved one any day of the year whether it truly is better to have loved and lost. Some may say that the pain they experience is too overwhelming that it makes them wish they never loved in the first place.

Monday Meditation: Quiet Reconnection

Learning to sit in quiet is a skill that takes time to develop. The noise outside is loud and often penetrates deep inside us, making it hard to shut off. The noise can obscure our true desires because it tells us that what we want cannot or should not be. No matter how long itContinue reading “Monday Meditation: Quiet Reconnection”

Monday Meditation: Lie Fallow

Fallowing is a farming practice whereby a field is left unsown for a period of time to let the soil recover its nutrients and restore its moisture content. This recovery time later allows that same soil to grow a larger and better crop when next planted. The “rest” time granted to grievers by friends, family,Continue reading “Monday Meditation: Lie Fallow”

Monday Meditation: A New Year Rest

December used to be an exciting month, a tiring one, but one filled with the energy of holiday electricity. The final week of the year used to be a time when I would organize myself and my professional and personal calendar. I would renew commitments to my goals and redraw the lines of my lifeContinue reading “Monday Meditation: A New Year Rest”

Monday Medtation: Every Day, Grief

The holiday season from Thanksgiving through the new year is fraught with emotional turmoil–sometimes ripples, sometimes earthquakes. This season seems to be one of the times when grievers are constantly beaten up with reminders of what we are grieving. Ads and commercials reminding us to buy gifts for everyone on our lists and have aContinue reading “Monday Medtation: Every Day, Grief”