Grief

“Grief is praise, because it is the natural way love honors what it misses.” - Martín Prechtel

In the summer of 2015 I said yes to a professional opportunity that would take me from the west coast to the east coast. I never quite knew why I said yes but when I unexpectedly fell in love, it all made sense.

Seven months later I would tragically lose my love to a mental health crisis.

It took a lot of work to help me navigate my journey through the deep ocean of grief. What I have learned about love and loss could fill the pages of a very long book. Perhaps the biggest piece of advice that helped me through this chapter of my life was finding meaning in his death and finding purpose for my pain.

I read countless books on death, grief and spirituality. I spoke with mediums. I became a Reiki Master and started reading and practicing soul-centered tarot. I walked hundreds of miles along the water. I cried. I felt like giving up, more than once. I worked too much. I changed careers to find something that held meaning. I lost friends but gained new ones. Ultimately, I surrendered to the depths of my emotions and held fast to a lot of trust and faith that I would one day no longer feel like I was drowning.

This is by no means an easy path to walk, yet I did gradually start to find joy and happiness in my life again. I learned that grief is simply another side to love. We honor our loved ones in Spirit when we can hold the both / and in our lives and say “I am both grieving my loss and moving forward.”

Grief is beautiful and is a very tangible reminder of our heart-centered connection to others. That connection does not end when someone dies but it does take on a new form that is rooted in what I call “Surrender, Trust, Do.” We have to lose ourselves before we can find ourselves.