The Many Faces of GRIEF

We all know grief. Some of us have a more intimate relationship with it than others. Grief will appear to us in many forms. The obvious one being the death of a loved one. However, grief shows up through a divorce, move to a different town, collapse of a friendship, health challenges, or changing jobs. No matter the face of grief, it comes calling upon each of us on numerous occasions in our lifetime.

During our visits with grief, time seems to be suspended completely in our moment of devastation. The two most painful visits from grief in my life came with the death of my mother and my horse, Alchemy (pictured). I wanted to sink into my sorrow and make the world stop. But mostly the world keeps turning, the sun and moon keep rising, and life goes on whether we like it or not. Our grief goes on. The alchemizing of our grief and loss goes on. Our unfolding, unbecoming, returning, goes on.

Unfortunately, our culture does not support our need to grieve, to be heard, and to take the time to allow our wounds to heal. I stuffed down my grief from the death of my mother and “sucked it up” as we are encouraged to do. It took me almost 20 years to fully embrace the unresolved grief. I found the taller I stood in my vulnerability the more the grief moved into the shadows. I’ve realized that tending to your grief is the ultimate self-care.

I can see now that it is an honor to feel grief deeply, to have been loved by someone and to love them so much that their loss unleashed such profound power. But we must move on from the grief by choosing to move through it. We all get to choose how we use our precious time and I am choosing more love, more laughter, and more connection…even if it involves grief along the way.

In the month of July, Alchemy’s Touch has a unique offering of a Grief Recovery Retreat on July 12-13th which will be hosted by my beloved niece, Destiny. The Grief Recovery Program is an action-based program for moving beyond death, divorce, and other losses. You’ll not want to miss this special opportunity to work with grief in the energetic presence of horses who have the ability to carry what we cannot. I invite you to come and tend to your grief as self-care.

Much Love,

Margo and the Herd