Let Your Grief Speak

Feel Better in the Mourning™ -- Give Grief a Voice Grievers seeking counseling are often encouraged to talk about how they are feeling. What you say does get said, but there is no permanent record or "snapshot." If you write those responses down, apply paint to a piece of paper or canvas, or do a collage, the "snapshot" captures a moment and makes it more concrete. When we create our "snapshots," we may feel as though the particular upset or misery we are experiencing will be everlasting. Days, months or years later, you can look at what you have expressed, and realize that you've moved on, or feel better, or can manage to go an entire day without tears. If you think it would be disloyal to your loved one to ever move on in your grieving, honor that, but remember that all things change over time -- grief, too.

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Excerpts from Feel Better in the Mourning: Give Grief a Voice - Click here for an abridged version of Chapter 13, which is called Tough Times. This chapter will help you anticipate difficult days in the aftermath of losing a loved one.

An Invitation to Give Grief a Voice: Think of this book as one continual invitation to tap what may be hidden creative juices residing inside in order to move yourself along with your grief. Don't fall into the trap of expecting or hoping for the express train through this process. Use the examples in this chapter or subsequent ones as models or as springboards to stimulate your own unique expression. Remember: you deserve a better taste in your mouth. Even if recording the raw details of your loss feels like swallowing a bitter pill, be assured that most pills do make us feel better.

May the journey you take through the pages of this book, or on pages of your own, ease the challenges your heart and soul are experiencing in the aftermath of your loss.

The Elusive "Other Side" of Grief
Grief does not disappear. It recedes. Believing there is a finish line to hurry and scurry toward sets up the fantasy that a day will arrive when we can declare, "Okay, now I'm over it." Too many people have been humbled by an unexpected re-opening of the scar to suggest it is safe or accurate to say this. The word, "closure," has lost popularity amongst bereavement specialists because it implies a similar promise that you will find a way to put an end to your grief, once and for all.