Bereavement Professionals’ Insights

Caileigh – Advice to my younger self about grief

Caileigh talks about things that you can do to balance out feelings that it’s okay to experience all of the big feelings that you have, to find joy in little moments, and to find ways that you can cope with those big feelings.

Amanda – “No person is an island”

Amanda talks about the power of community and the importance of reaching out.

Maureen – “Grief is a messy non-linear place”

Maureen explains how you wind your way through grief and that is normal.

Collective Grief

When the death of a person affects many members in a community, city, country, or across the world, people will experience collective grief.

These are some things that can help people through the experience of collective grief across a community.

Corrie – Grief is like a rollercoaster

Corrie talks about grief over time

Rev. Sky – “Yearning”

Rev. Sky discusses yearning and how it’s OK to feel those emotions.

Claudia – You do not have to be an artist to do art therapy

Claudia explains why you do not have to be an artist to benefit

Keith – “We need one another”

Keith talks about the importance of story, understanding our journey and how we are connected.

Maureen – “Trust yourself”

Maureen talks about finding your own way in your healing process.

Tending to My Garden of Grief

So long as I remember the lives of those I have lost, honour their presence and impact on me and celebrate their spirit, they will continue to live with me and the pain will feel bearable. It will no longer stop me in my tracks. Instead, it will encourage me and propel me forward through the transmutation of that grief into something different, something more nuanced and fluid. I’d like to share a practice for processing grief which I have found to be especially helpful.

Christian – “Growth out of pain”

Christian tells about how grief changes and we grow.

Maureen – “Grief can change the landscape of your relationships”

Maureen discusses how relationships can be challenged by grief.