Grief can feel isolating, strange, and frustrating. You might even struggle to be understood or misunderstand your own experiences. This is not only normal, but could even be considered a rite of passage. Rightly so, as the appearance of grief tends to change everything it touches. You may find the 6 prompts below useful in beginning your own personal journey of grief via journaling, speaking to a loved one or counselor, and as well as through creative projects.
Disrupt
"Grief is meant to be disruptive"
- The Death Alchemist
It is a lie that grief is one size fits all. It is a lie that you can somehow stay unchanged by grief. Grief shatters most illusions. Allow it to do so.
Remember
Remembering can either be experienced as a curse or a gift - sometimes both. Which is it to you? Get clear on what you remember and how it affects you mind, body & soul. What have you forgotten about that could help you on your path?
Time
Making time and space for grief can look like anything, but it is important to remember that grief tends to operate on its own timeline. Invite them into the fold when they show up. This may take practice. Rest often.
Honor
We honor those who have died, including pieces of ourselves, when we are truthful about what has been lost, forgotten, or seemingly replaced. What or who matters that is no longer? We honor ourselves when we live a life that is genuine to our heart's desires. How does living your life, right now, honor the dead? Your past? The world?
Ask
Ask questions. Ask for help. Ask a guide. Ask an elder. Ask a tree. Ask the sky. Don't be afraid to ask for what you do not have, know, or understand in grief. Also, be willing to not know. Either for right now or forever.
Inspire
Creation and connection through grief is possible - for everyone. How has death and life's endings inspired you in waking life? How do the sensations and feelings that come up through grief motivate you to dream, reimagine and encourage others to do the same?
Consider the ways that grief allows us to explore humanity's
consciousness,
motivations,
feral bodies,
and spirit.
"Grounded in the transformation of matter, alchemy was assumed to reflect ancient ideas on the mind, body, and spirit, and each of their places in science, mathematics, philosophy, and other areas of academic thought. The three substances that all others consist of according to alchemical thought are known as the tria prima, or the three primes: the soul as sulfur, the spirit as mercury, and the body as salt."
- Effie Jackson, Art & Object
