grief
The Gravity of Grief
I have written before about the ways that loss – whether expected or not – can make the world feel like a foreign place. Navigating life in the wake of a loss is like learning to walk all over again on an unfamiliar surface. Sometimes that challenge of learning to walk on the moon becomes…
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Grief in the Season of Joy
Everywhere you look, the signs are there: The holidays are here. Turkeys, holly berries, lights, and snowmen are showing up in every store – and on some front lawns – as we roll into the season of joy. At least, it’s supposed to be a season of joy, or so we are told. …
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When the World Feels Heavy
There are times when, despite the years of training, education, and experience, there are just no words for what lies between two people in the therapy room. When the grief and pain is tangible, with mass and weight and texture – but with no words. When the images and sounds and the felt sense is…
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Father’s Day Wishes
A father’s new place To the new dad, wondering what his place is in the family as he gazes down at the brand-new little life in his hands: May you be loved and supported as you enter this new chapter. May you embrace your new role as you are asked to do and be…
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The Post-Holiday Letdown
The decorations are coming down. The ornaments have been put away. The trees are out on the sidewalk, and most of us will be ok with not seeing another candy cane for 11.5 more months. Most holiday obligations have been fulfilled, and now we just have to find places to put all the stuff we…
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When love is mingled with grief
Last week, I wrote about Aragorn and his journey from nameless ranger to noble king. Today, I want to revisit the Lord of the Rings from a different angle. Today, we will explore a concept spoken by the Elf Queen Galadriel: love, mingled with grief. In the first first movie of the Lord of…
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When Father’s Day is Bittersweet
Today is a day that we honor and celebrate fathers. Fathers are inarguably some of the most influential people in our lives – whether they are in our lives or not. Their presence or lack of presence can have an equally significant impact on us. In the ideal, the role of father carries the…
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Walking on the Moon
It’s a new year. The holidays have ended and most of us are back to work and making our way back to our daily routines. We are surrounded by good intentions, goals, resolutions, and expectations for the new year. Daily life is at once familiar and new. For me, this new year is different. The…
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A Time to Mourn (A Little More)
Last week, I wrote about grief, loss, and mourning to honor hopes that go unfulfilled. Today, I will return to the conversation to speak more deeply to the complicated, ambiguous losses of past and future relationships. In the therapy world, we sometimes talk about something called “complicated grief,”. Or grief that exceeds the usual length,…
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A Time to Mourn
Halloween is over. We’ve taken off our costumes, put away our spiderwebs, and divvied up our candy (what’s left of it anyway). It’s officially autumn, and the leaves in my neighborhood are finally starting to turn and drift to the earth. It is a time of transition, moving us from the heat and humidity of…
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