#MondaysMoments

November 14 2022

Thinking of our theme, “Is Grief Your Friend or Your Enemy?” I appreciate this quote by author C. S. Lewis when he was writing about the death of his wife, “And suddenly at the very moment when, so...
By Jackie Naginey Hook
Monday, November 14, 2022

November 7 2022

This month our theme is “Is Grief Your Friend or Your Enemy?” I think for many of us grief feels like both -- it just depends on the moment. Initially when we’ve lost a loved one, grief may feel li...
By Jackie Naginey Hook
Monday, November 7, 2022

October 31 2022

As we close out this month and its theme of “Harvesting Your Thoughts.” I want to share the David Whyte poem, “Start Close In.” While on the grief journey with its many thoughts and emotions, it ca...
By Jackie Naginey Hook
Monday, October 31, 2022

October 24 2022

A third strategy to help us believe that we can handle the difficult emotions of grief is spending time in nature. This is one of my favorites. I’m continually surprised by the profound effects nat...
By Jackie Naginey Hook
Monday, October 24, 2022

October 17 2022

A second strategy to help us believe that we can handle the difficult emotions of grief is expressive writing. Journaling is often recommended for grievers. Moving our thoughts and emotions from th...
By Jackie Naginey Hook
Monday, October 17, 2022

October 10 2022

As we continue our discussion of “Harvesting Your Thoughts,” we will talk about strategies to helps us believe that we can handle the difficult emotions of grief. One is the practice of mindfulness...
By Jackie Naginey Hook
Monday, October 10, 2022

October 3 2022

This month our theme is “Harvesting Your Thoughts.” When we’re grieving the loss of a loved one, we have many thoughts and emotions. What we may not recognize is that the two are connected. Our tho...
By Jackie Naginey Hook
Monday, October 3, 2022

Previous Posts

December 11 2023

I wasn’t always comfortable with the concept of, “Dare! Silence.” I grew up in a house with five kids and two parents, so silence was not something that happened often. When I began to practice a s...

December 4 2023

This month’s theme is “Dare! Silence.” Silence is very important throughout our lives, especially on our grief journeys. Silence can be intimidating, and we often try to fill it when we encounter i...

November 27 2023

To close this month, please read Anne Hillman’s poem, “We Look With Uncertainty” as you notice “something new is being born in” you while making new treasured memories. We look with uncertainty be...

November 20 2023

My favorite holidays is Thanksgiving. In terms of the meanings behind other holidays, I’m all in. But I can do without their hype and commercialization. So as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, ...

November 13 2023

As I was writing this month’s posts about our theme of “Memories Become Treasures,” the song “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac started to play. When our youngest child went off to college, this song mad...

November 6 2023

This month’s theme is “Memories Become Treasures.” In a recent grief education and support group I was leading we talked about looking at old photographs of deceased loved ones and how those pictur...

October 30 2023

To close out this month, read these words of poet John O'Donohue: The dead are not distant or absent. They are alongside us. When we lose someone to death, we lose their physical image and presenc...