Category: Compound Grief

Losing A Part of Myself

I read this sentiment in a memoir and then heard it again in a free monthly webinar by Wendy Kessler, MSW, FT, on Reimagining Love. When the person we love dies, it is unlike a scar that heals. Instead, it is an amputation that we learn to adapt to. We are never the same. Instead,…… Continue reading Losing A Part of Myself

Grief Storm

The life of a griever-aloneness, triggers, tears, exhaustion, and heartbreak. A never-ending cycle, especially when the shock wears off and the reality sets in. It is more challenging that you are going along, thinking you’ve got this, only to be hit by a tsunami of grief. It’s like having a band-aid being ripped off a…… Continue reading Grief Storm

Authentic Self

When I was younger, I spent a lot of time worrying about what other people thought of me and trying to please everybody. Grief has changed what is essential in my life, especially the older I get. What is left behind is my raw, authentic self. The year 2022 was painful, as I had to…… Continue reading Authentic Self

When your heart is broken And you think that you can’t take one more heartache Bravery is not fighting dragons or being a superhero. It’s getting up every morning to face a new day. Showering and getting dressed. Eating Doing your job the best that you can. Crying as you drive, walk, sit, or whatever… Continue reading Bravery in the Face of Grief

Grief Triggers

My biggest trigger for grief is when I do everything right, but things go wrong. It seems to hit when I’m at my most vulnerable. It stirs up the sorrow that fills my heart and rips the stitches apart. I’m once again reminded that I only have control over what I put into the situation…… Continue reading Grief Triggers

I’m Thinking…

A Moment of Joy From the Spring, 2022 I bought “Writing Down the Bones Deck” cards by Natalie Goldberg so I would have writing prompts when needed. Writing is a therapeutic way to express my feelings, especially when they are overwhelming. So this is the first prompt. What I’m thinking of is that it’s a…… Continue reading I’m Thinking…

Adjusting to the Unexpected

This year has been a reminder of how fragile life is and that you can’t take anything for granted. Having lived through the death of both my parents and then catching COVID a month after my dad died was overwhelming. Little did I know that two weeks after recovering from COVID, I would have to…… Continue reading Adjusting to the Unexpected

Grief Landscape

One of the prompts that I had in Writing You Grief was to write how your landscape had changed. When I was a child, I would watch scary movies that always seemed to have quicksand in them. I was always terrified of falling into quicksand, though I didn’t live in an area where there was…… Continue reading Grief Landscape

Living in Two Worlds

“The trick, if there is one, is to maintain both: wonder and sadness, curiosity and grief. Joy and the absence of joy. Overcome by neither, open to both.” I’m using this quote from “Writing Your Grief” as a jumping-off point to write on melancholy because I’ve learned to live in a world of both/and.  Grief…… Continue reading Living in Two Worlds

Grief Personified

https://videopress.com/v/a91MTOp5?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&autoPlay=true&loop=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true Grief Spiralcopyright Jennifer Mullins I signed up for “Writing Your Grief” by Megan Devine a week after my dad’s funeral.  It’s a 30-day program with daily prompts to write about your grief.  The pain of my dad’s death was compounded by the death of my mom six months earlier and my husband ten years…… Continue reading Grief Personified