grief companionship
“where does everyone put their sadness?” ~sabrina ward harrison
Where does it all go? Or maybe the question is, What space is big enough to hold it all?
Our pain, our sadness, our anger, our confusion, our outright refusal, our dreams, our physical symptoms– grief wears many faces, and some are given more permission to be in our culture than others. There are as many ways to grieve as there are human beings, and we may find ourselves moving, sometimes chaotically, between varying responses in a single day, or even an hour. Whether it is the loss of a loved one, a marriage, our health, a job, a pet– grief follows no rules, and we should be held to no standard of “normal”.
Grief companionship is a safe and spacious place to bring all of it. It is not therapy– we do not see through a clinical lens what needs to be managed or fixed. It is simply a place of being with, of learning and growing within yourself to allow more room around what you are feeling, without judging any of it. We get to be fully human together.
During a grief companionship session you might simply name what it is you have been feeling; we might talk about the daily weight of what you carry, or wonder about the bigger questions. We might engage in creative practice to allow another language to speak, when words aren’t sufficient. We might find information and resources that would help find a sense of grounding in what feels unmoored.
Through it all, as your companion, I will hold your experience and all that is present with compassion and an orientation toward the Holy in all things.