Healing is a Journey.
I hope my words will serve as a caring presence as you forge a trail to the deep river of healing that grief can open up in you. Whether you take it a step at a time or blaze the trail like there’s no tomorrow, healing is the journey of a lifetime, because healing can change everything – grief, love, even death. But now I’m getting ahead of myself. First, healing requires you to become familiar with the nuances of your grief. Indeed, your grief is the sickle with which to clear the trail to the river.
Shea Darian, Doing Grief in Real Life

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 …
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 …
The Grief in Our Gratitude
We settlers call it “Thanksgiving.” They who were here before us call it “National Day of Mourning.” We remember noble natives sharing fruits and labor, a table spread, wisdom given. …
Knowing Nothing of Grief But Your Own
Elizabeth Kubler-Ross is my hero. But her five stages of grief are not. Kubler-Ross was a pioneer in the death and dying movement – bringing understanding, compassion and a sense …
Your Own Best Grief Expert
When I was a senior in high school, my best friend Sheri died in an accident. She was on a date with a young man whose car went out of …
Living With Your Grief
Physical death is often regarded as the ultimate grief-striking loss – the common denominator of our species. But death is hardly the most common loss we humans endure. Some of …
Outrageous Fortune
Seeing Grief From a Different Perspective Proverbial wisdom says that all good things must come to an end. In the same breath, it declares that all good things come to …
Courage to Heal
In ancient times, there was born a legend of two sea-faring dangers: Scylla and Charybdis. The two monsters dwelt on opposite shores of the Strait of Messina. They were poised …
It’s Grief Awareness Day
Grief comes in all shapes and sizes. Please reach out to someone you know who is suffering grief today – yourself included. "It isn't the volume of pain that determines …
Blessing the Infant Within You
An Audio Contemplation from Doing Grief in Real Life It's been said that infants commune with angels, that babies and toddlers are protected by spiritual powers from beyond. This seems …