Grief can feel isolating. In the tender days after loss — and even years later — many people quietly carry heartbreak without a safe place to bring it. This Valentine season, you can show up for someone who needs care, community, and compassionate space. Our dedicated Board at Doing Grief gave $1,996.50 to sustain DoingContinue reading “Be a Valentine. Be the Matchmaker.”
Author Archives: Shea
Grieving Your Way Home to Yourself
After my best friend Sheri’s death in high school, I didn’t have a single adult in my life who knew how to respond to my pain or show me the way to heal it. Their floundering in the face of my grief was as frightening to me as the fact that my dear friend couldContinue reading “Grieving Your Way Home to Yourself”
Apologies from a Reluctant Blogger
Dear subscribers: My apologies. I haven’t blogged for awhile. That doesn’t mean I take you for granted. Quite the opposite. Every time I get a new subscriber on my blog, I do a little dance of joy. It is a highlight of my day. In way of explanation for my absence in your inbox,Continue reading “Apologies from a Reluctant Blogger”
When Loss Goes on For Miles
It all began when my father announced that he was living and dying with cancer. When we found out, Andrew and I with our two children (who were teenagers then) moved from McFarland, Wisconsin to Phoenix, Arizona to be closer to my Dad as he negotiated the passage of death. We moved into our PhoenixContinue reading “When Loss Goes on For Miles”
Grieving in All Directions
Grief scatters darkness as a prism scatters light. So, when we respond to grief, we’re forced to take a soulful journey in all directions. No doubt, it would be easier if grieving were more orderly. If only there were three, or five, or even ten grieving assignments we could line up and knock off oneContinue reading “Grieving in All Directions”
“Doing Grief” Wins Coveted Nautilus Award
I’m delighted to announce that my book, Doing Grief in Real Life won a silver medal in the 2023 Nautilus Awards. The Nautilus Book Awards judge independent authors alongside big and small traditional presses and recognize books that focus on spiritual growth, green values and sustainability, wellness, and positive social change. Past winners include BarbaraContinue reading ““Doing Grief” Wins Coveted Nautilus Award”
Making Your Grief Useful
Grief. Grieving. What’s the difference? Grief is to grieving as the eye is to seeing, as the ear is to hearing. Think of grief as an invisible organ of perception. Think of the difference between grief and grieving as the difference between what a person is and what a person does. Grief is a partContinue reading “Making Your Grief Useful “
Laughing in the Face of Loss
Some say that the only way to heal grief is to face it and “move through” the pain. I beg to differ. Healing grief is more of a dance. It is holding grief close and letting it go. It is thinking about it and not thinking about it, talking about it and not talking aboutContinue reading “Laughing in the Face of Loss”
Griever, Know Thyself
Self-awareness. As adults, there’s no getting around it. You can try, of course, and many of us die trying. So it may be tempting to move speedily through this holiday season without pausing to consider the ins and outs of your intimate relationship with grief. There’s no crime in that if it works for you.Continue reading “Griever, Know Thyself”
Defining Grief on Your Own Terms
Before you know how to heal your grief, you have to get to know the grief that is yours to heal. Put simply, grief is the spontaneous suffering you experience when you are subject to a real or imagined loss of someone or something you greatly value or cherish. But what makes grief so difficultContinue reading “Defining Grief on Your Own Terms”