Grief work is soul work.
There are few experiences in our modern lives that bring us so far down and into ourselves, into totally unfamiliar territory, into the unknown, into that dark forest where we don’t know who we are, where we are or where we are going. Grief brings us into this soul territory and cultivates us as human beings so we may step more fully into our becoming. There is harvest in descent if we stay awake to the journey.
“Where there is sorrow, there is holy ground”
With individuals and groups, Grief Pilgrim works to re-imagine ways of relating to grief that are authentic, meaningful, and generative.
Tending to the sacred inside of you
Choosing to become a grief pilgrim is choosing to step into the territory of Soul with our grief. When we deepen into a soulful relationship with ourselves, there is more opportunity to cultivate a healthy and even beautiful relationship with our grief. In doing so, we create more vitality and meaning in our lives. Becoming a grief pilgrim is about embracing what is, and allowing what is to ripen us into the humans we came here to be.
Grief is a human capacity, worthy of cultivation. It is a powerful and beautiful expression of love. Francis Weller writes that “Grief reveals the undeniable reality of our bond with the world.” Although we are culturally most familiar with grief being associated with the death of a loved one, we grieve for many reasons.
We may experience grief in divorce when we lose the imagined life we thought we would share forever with our partner. We may grieve when we lose the health of our bodies, or body mobility and vitality. We grieve for the ravaging of planet earth, for the loss of species, clean air and water. We grieve for the loss of an imagined healthy future for our children. We grieve for the loss of human dignity, integrity and kindness. We may grieve for the lives we didn’t have; for the attuned parents we didn’t have, the mentors we didn’t have, the elders, ceremonies, stories, rituals, kindness, love we never got.
Grief is a vast territory in the inner landscape that is nuanced and subtle and complex and unique.
Making good relations with this journey of loss and grief is simply a part of being and becoming human.
A pilgrims journey begins with the first step
It’s not always easy to reach out for support when we are grieving, and yet we are not meant to grieve alone.
