"Write Your Way Back: Grief & Loss"
An Invitation to A Grief Journaling Gathering Sunday, 4.21.24 @ 3pm CST
What’s up, everyone? Thank you for rockin’ with me and my writing! I haven’t been writing much lately, well, I’ve been writing but not posting much! That will all change starting next week! Right now, I have a special post from
. She is new to Substack, but she writes at Emerge From Hiding, show her some love by subscribing to her page. She is hosting a virtual writing gathering this Sunday, April 21, 2024, at 3 PM CST, and you are invited! Read the post below and use the link to register. It’s free, but as always, donations are welcome! I'll let her take it from here!
I had not been writing as much as usual leading up to my aunt’s passing earlier this year. After returning home from her funeral I was no better off. This would have been fine, except now, I had a month of delayed grief (due to a month of intense coordination and planning of affairs from thousands of miles away) to process through as well.
Being one who lovessss journaling, I googled the word “grief journaling” in search of some prompts. I happened upon an article with some and although I didn’t end up using any of them, I was all in on the idea of “a grief journal”.
I was experiencing her death in a different way than I had the deaths of others close to me previously. Perhaps this was because this particular aunt was the last in her immediate family; a family which I drove (well, not me exactly, but you catch my drift) thousands of miles cross country to spend just about every summer with for the first fourteen years of my life.
When people die, a piece of our history dies with them.
Whatever the reason, grief felt like something space needed to be made for. And it felt like it needed its own special place to live, outside of my “everyday journal”.
While I initially started my grief journal to help me process her death (remembering our times together, thinking about the things I’d miss about her, being angry about the things that weren’t) other losses began to arise as well- how my body has changed with age, one of my closest friends whom I’d just lost a few months prior, my way of life which had been drastically upended, a relationship dear to my heart which is currently estranged.
It became a safe space I looked forward to engaging with throughout the day. And although I don’t find myself reaching for it as often as I once did, it is still a great resource in those difficult moments; great and small.
In our culture, here in America, we don’t often give people space to mourn the death of people (which there is so much more to say about….) and we definitely don’t take the time to grieve the loss of other less visible, less “socially acceptable” losses.
our freedom
our identity shifting (parenthood, caregiving, marriage, job transition)
the loss of the full use of our bodies (surgery, diagnosis, age)
the relationship that ended (divorce, friendship, familial estrangement)
relational changes (due to growth, distance, cognitive changes)
And the list goes on.
In an effort to combat the stigma associated with grief and share another tool for your toolbelt, I want to extend an invitation to a virtual grief journaling gathering I will be facilitating this Sunday, April 21st @ 3pm CST, “Write Your Way Back: Grief & Loss Edition.”
You can find out more information at bit.ly/wywbapril. And no, you don’t have to be a writer, journal regularly, or have any “previous experience” to participate. 😉
I created this space with you in mind.
They [it] are worthy of our tears, worthy of celebration, and worthy of remembrance.
They mattered.
It mattered.
They matter.
It matters.
Resources:
- "I'm Not Okay" by John Onwuchekwa (one of the first articles I read regarding grief, a winner)
- Josefina H. Sanders (she writes about grief at Cuídate on Substack; I've really enjoyed reading her stuff)
- "25 Grief Journal Prompts & Tips For Getting Started" (*stickers* have also been a delightful addition to my process!)
- Grief Rituals: Definition, Examples, & Ideas to Try (some of them were real questionable, but some of the others were still good...)
Hope you find something helpful.
Cristal is a multi-hyphenate creative who isn’t quite sure what her bio is just yet in this space- that Danny B. guy insisted upon it though 🙄. She does know that creating spaces where people feel seen and heard and resourcing them with transformational tools for their everyday lives is foundational to all she does.
You can read more from her (but not much more 😉) on her newly formed substack at emergefromhiding.substack.com and her whopping four posts on Instagram @emergefromhiding 🙌