#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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...