Hold your grief tight.
Grief has a way of arriving without permission, in the simplest ways. The scent of a person, a song, a particular color or even a word may you remind you of a person, space and time that no longer exist with us in this realm. Some days you may feel like your softest flowing self, other days grief may hit you like a ton of bricks in a bag you didn’t ask to carry. One thing is for sure: grief is not something we can ignore, it’s not something we can put a timeline on, it’s not something we can simply get over, but most times, it simply asks to be acknowledged. And while the world often urges us to move on, grief has a way of inviting us to flow with it.
Honoring your grief isn’t about fixing it, it’s about giving yourself the space to feel what you need to feel. To honor what you are feeling. to honor how you’re being called to reflect. To honor grief is to honor the truth of what we’ve lost, the parts of us that are shifting.
How do you honor your grief when it shows up?
What would it look like to give yourself more space, softness, or patience?
How can I remind myself that healing is not linear—and that this pace is okay?
Take what you need
1. Call Your Grief By Its Name. There is nothing wrong with saying, “I am grieving.” There is nothing wrong with asking for space to be held for you if you can’t find the strength to hold it for yourself.
2. Create a Small Ritual of Remembrance. Light a candle. Look at a photo. Write a letter. Speak their name with love and power. Play their favorite song, cook their favorite meal. Rituals help us hold the weight of loss with joy.
3. Let Your Body Acknowledge What Words Can’t. Grief has a way of sitting in the body. Whatever your body needs, give it permission to receive it.
4. Protect Your Energy Without Apology. You’re allowed to cancel. You’re allowed to step back. You’re allowed to choose solitude or softness or silence. Grief sometimes requires space. It’s okay if you don’t have the emotional or mental capacity. You’re not required to force yourself to be social, cheerful, productive, or available when your heart is heavy.
5. Honor What You Lost by Honoring What It Gave You. Every love, every season, every chapter leaves something behind; it gives you something, it teaches you something. Find a sweet memory (if you can). Sometimes grief also looks like celebrating life. Even when grief feels heavy or overwhelming, there is something beautiful to hold onto.
6. Rest Without Guilt. Grief is literally one of the heaviest loads we can carry. Emotionally, physically, mentally… grief is a weight we oftentimes didn’t ask for. Rest…. Rest…. Rest is also a part of healing.
7. Create Something from the Pain. Paint, Write, turn your pain into purpose in ways that feel creative and honest.
8. Give Yourself Permission to Take All the Time You Need. Healing isn’t linear; healing doesn’t happen overnight; healing isn’t on anyone’s timeline but your own. Some days you’ll feel steady. Other days you’ll feel undone. Honor it all.
9. Listen to Your Intuition. Trust how you are called to grieve. Some days require solitude, other days you’ll desire connection. It’s going to look different every day. Give yourself grace.
10. Make everything you do for yourself a ritual of love. Make your showers a ritual, the way you lotion your body, the way you make tea, speak affirmation into your water before you drink it, speak life into your food before you eat it. Everything you do, especially in moments of grief, should call you back to the joy and peace you’ve cultivated within.
