On The Experience Of Grief - Expanding Your Emotional Repertoire
We all harbour a sense of fear of that which we don’t know. This is especially true if we have not yet been confronted with the reality of grief. Early in life, we gain reference points for happiness, joy, sadness, anger, and even fear. But grief, if we are lucky, comes later in life.
Once Grief from loss is experienced, it changes you forever like innocence lost. Grief expands your existing emotional repertoire. You can choose how you want it to join you. It can close you off from yourself and others as you try to hide and protect yourself from the pain of it, or it can deepen your empathy for yourself and others as you learn to step in and find your way through it.
In the beginning, you often drift aimlessly in and out of grief, wondering how you got here and where you are going...
Grief comes just like the ebb and flow of the tides on the shore. Grief is felt on a deep soul level and is a journey that is unique to each individual. It is something we will all experience in our lifetime. We often feel lost and isolated in our grief. I am grateful it is being discussed more as now it can allow us to find connection and understanding together in community. Community helps you heal as your pain is witnessed by those who understand.
When grief comes into your life, if you allow yourself to surrender and reach the pinnacle of your pain, you can come out the other side stronger for having braved your pain. Allowing ourselves to become raw and vulnerable moves you into a place for healing to begin. The experience of being fully with your grief is hard and messy. Surprisingly it brings a sense of space for new energy you could never have known without releasing into the agony of loss.
Grief isn’t something we “get over.” It is similar to any emotion we have learned to flow and be with. However, grief differs from other emotions in its intensity and level of intrusiveness. When a loving space is held for you, it honours your feelings and gives meaning to the significance of the relationship you have lost. It also helps provides a sense of peace and steadiness through the uncharted waters of your grief, helping you reorient in a new direction toward the horizon of acceptance and growth.
As a Grief and End of Life Specialist, I am here to walk alongside you as a witness in your grief journey.
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