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Grief and Regrief (aka growing up with a grief monster)
So there‘s this thing called grief. You’ve probably heard of it. You probably wish you hadn’t heard of it. There is also ambiguous grief, and cumulative grief, and secondary grief, and anticipatory...
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The Moments that Matter: Looking at life in hindsight
I didn’t have a meaningful moment with my mother before she died. Well, that’s not true, my life with her was filled with meaningful moments. I guess what I mean is that I never had the Hollywood...
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Grief is Love
What is grief in relation to love? Quite often I think they’re the same thing. When people think of love, most often they think of hearts, romance, and warm-fuzzies, but love is far more complicated....
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More Than Just a Teapot: The items that connect past and present
The acorn necklace my sister, Jessie, gave me the Christmas after my mom died is in this twisted, tangled mess of silver chains and baubles. It’s the same kind of necklace my mother wore when she was...
View ArticleSeeking Order In The Aftermath Of Loss
Eleanor wrote a pretty great post on shattered assumptions about the world after a death, and she described the following as a common reaction: “The sense that their death was meaningless may...
View ArticleThe Unique Loneliness of Grief
Most people don’t think about the idea of loneliness in great depth. Loneliness is one of those concepts we assume we know. We equate it to the very definable concept of being alone, which means...
View ArticleCelebrities Speaking Up About Grief: Volume 14
Okay, I am officially the worst at keeping up with this series. I looked back to see when the last volume came and it was in 2015!! What can I say? I’m sorry. Luckily this week there was a lot of...
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Problem Solving Grief
Grief isn’t a problem that can be solved. I want to make sure we’re all clear on this before proceeding. Agree? Great. Now that we’re all on the same page, let’s talk about problem solving. I know I...
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Eight Times Grief Made Me Feel Ugly, Mean, or Crazy
Society has created this narrative that idealizes the idea of grieving with grace. You have probably seen it in the movies, in books, and subtly being reinforced when people compliment you on how...
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10 Helpful Tips for Talking with Children about the Drug-Related Death of a...
Talking to kids about death can feel tricky and overwhelming. Talking to them about a stigmatized and confusing death, like a suicide or a drug-relate death, that can feel even trickier and even more...
View ArticleCreating Grief Support Spaces
You know, life is hard. Well…I know you know life is hard…but let me say it anyways. Life is hard and, at one point or another, each and every person walking the face of this Earth will experience a...
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Conceptualizing Progress in Grief
We often use the simile that grief is like a journey and while grief is a little bit like a journey, it’s not the perfect comparison. The word ‘journey’ is not quite right because (1) I think it makes...
View ArticleAnxiety in Grief
Think of something that scares you. Perhaps it’s the thought of giving a speech in front of a crowd, taking a test, asking your crush out on a date, or jumping out of an airplane. Even if you’re mostly...
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Winter is Coming: 64 tips for grieving through the winter blues
Okay, so it may feel like we are jumping the gun with a post about winter blues on the first day of fall, but we have good reason. I promise. Weather can have a real impact on mood and coping,...
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The Uninvited Guest: Making Room for Grief
“Together we will cry and face fear and grief. I will want to take away your pain, but instead I will sit with you and teach you how to feel it.” ~ Brené Brown, The Wholehearted Parenting Manifesto On...
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Grief In Six Words: a new site by WYG
If you’re a long-time WYG grief-friend, you know that Eleanor and I looooove six-word stories. Why? First, because we love creative expression as a tool for coping with grief. Writing, of course, is...
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Thinking About Thinking (and Grief)
We have talked many a time here about how grief can make you feel a bit like you’re losing it. Emotions overwhelm you, thoughts and feelings are running amok, it can feel like your brain was...
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Talking to Kids About Death and Grief: 10 Comprehensive Tips
If you came here looking for a script for talking to your child about death and grief, I’m sorry, we can’t give you one. Your child is an individual and your situation is unique, so what you say and do...
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Grieving an Online Friend: 8 things you should know about cybergrief
When you saw the title of this post my guess is you had one of two reactions: Ah, finally WYG is writing about cybergrief. What took them so long?!? OR Uhhh, cybergrief . . .??? We have mentioned...
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How to Support a Grieving Family Member or Friend: 6 Principles
It’s common to feel anxious and intimidated in the “grief support” role. This is one of the reasons why otherwise caring people sometimes say hurtful, minimizing, or unhelpful things to their bereaved...
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