Grief and Loss

So here's the story: After a lifetime of hand-copying ancient texts, an elderly monk became abbot of his monastery. Realizing that for centuries his order had been making copies of copies, he decided to examine some of the monastery's original documents.

The researcher behind a new study on aging and depression shares tips on how not to turn into a grumpy old man (or woman) Contrary to countless pop culture depictions of cranky old men and bitter spinsters, depression is not a normal part of aging.

In our age of positivity and spiritual awakening we are eager to celebrate the power of love to transform and illuminate the world around us. Yet we often forget until it is upon us, how transformational grief can be if we have the tools to navigate it in a constructive way.

Some of our favorite features taking on loss and grief of all kinds Tell us if this sounds familiar. You (or someone you care about) have been through a major loss. You're completely knocked off your axis, so you throw yourself down the Internet rabbit hole, searching for some hefty writing to help you commiserate because nobody seems to get it.

Reposted from Rebelle Society "What if we never 'get over' certain deaths, or our childhoods? What if the idea that we should have by now, or will, is a great palace lie? What if we're not supposed to? What if it takes a life time...?"

After my mom died I obsessed over controlling what I ate. Letting go meant rethinking what grief, and my body, were supposed to look like.

“We need to catch up soon!”

I emerge from this conversation dumbfounded. I've seen this a million times
before, but it still gets me every time. 

I’m listening to a man tell a story. A woman he knows was in a devastating
car accident; her life shattered in an instant. She now lives in a state of
near-permanent pain; a paraplegic; many of her hopes stolen.

Are you or a loved one feeling upset? Communication expert and professional mediator Miles Sherts shares his advice for resolving your own and others' emotionally charged states.

Are you too busy? This article gives you 55 ways to take care of yourself when life is spinning too fast!

The stages of grief were not meant to tell you what you feel, what you should feel, and when exactly you should feel it. They were not meant to dictate whether you are doing your grief 'correctly' or not. They were meant to normalize a deeply not-normal time.

We are genetically inclined to look for possible negative outcomes. But, does this survival mechanism serve us well in our time? Some helpful insights on not judging ourselves too harshly and creating a new sense of spaciousness within.

Julie Klam talks about dogs, depression, and writing with Julie Barton, whose moving new memoir ‘Dog Medicine’ is a tribute to the golden retriever who rescued her from her darkest hours.

Self-compassion research challenges the self-esteem movement while tackling the 'inner bully.'

Author of Broken Open Elizabeth Lesser and Zen psychologist Brenda Shoshanna offer practical ways to make milestones manageable for those who are grieving.

Cut out a vice for 100 days.

I've spent the vast majority of my life—34 years—scared shitless. While
some fundamental shifts have occurred in how I handle fear over the past
five years, I can't tell you that I've beaten it. In fact, I'm scared right
now.

Why is it that being a man is to be sentenced to a life bereft of emotional support? When women say they want to meet a sensitive man, they generally mean they want to meet a man who attends to their emotional needs, not a man who openly expresses his own emotional needs let alone a man openly expresses his emotional frailty.

If we ignore grief and put it on the back burner, it will simmer, get thicker and harder, and it will be a royal mess to clean up.

“You just need an attitude adjustment.”

“You are in need of the truth. If you were to only see it you could get
over your loss and have new life.” 

“You seem like a very angry person and if you just learned to release that
anger you would see the path.” 

One of the consequences of writing about loss and pain very publicly is
that some people come to believe that you are, in fact, a deeply angry,
troubled, fucked up person. That isn't an accurate description of me at
all, but I get it: people make assumptions, and that’s fine. 

I know a woman (not a client) who, about a year ago, decided to do something pretty radical to her body. It affected everything—from what she ate to how she worked out to the clothes she wore. This experiment was so radical that she even ended up making new friends and buying new clothes. It …

Solving the problem of grief is a problem in itself: if the ways you are broken cannot possibly be fixed, why does everyone keep giving you solutions?

Before my partner died, I was reading There ...

Online lifestyle magazine. Lists, life, 00s nostalgia, work advice and blogging tips.

Five of my friends lost a parent in the last year. This was terrifying, tragic, and unspeakably unfair — they’re all under 35 years old and didn’t expect to have to deal with this for at least 20 years.