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December 1, 2015

On Uncomplicated Grief in the New Normal

Written by Karen Costa

How do we continue to bear witness when violent loss becomes cyclical? How do we mourn? An educator grapples with her own struggle to uphold the memories of the victims of the Umpqua Community College shooting, in a time when we have started to become numb to tragedy.

November 17, 2015

The Incessant Flux of Life and Time

Written by Ananya Vajpeyi

The daughter of the renowned Hindi poet Kailash Vajpeyi turns to ancient rivers and archaic rituals to find comfort in the uninterrupted thread running through her past, present, and future.

October 10, 2015

Memoirs of a Griever

Written by Catherine J.F. Sietkiewicz

There is no handbook for grief. With grace, kindness, and gentleness, a daughter candidly shares her experience of mourning after the unexpected loss of her father.

October 1, 2015

Her Father’s Daughter

Written by Omid Safi

When teaching about 9/11 and the dignity of all lives, a professor encounters a student in class who lost her father in the World Trade Center attacks. Her kind response is a reminder that we must sometimes reconcile our advocacy for, and anger towards, others with compassion for our fellow human beings.

September 10, 2015

Finding Compassion After Suicide

Written by Liliana Maria (Lily) Percy Ruíz

For World Suicide Prevention Day, a story of a son's loss of his father by suicide. The writer Eric Marcus talks about family silence, learning to share his story, and discovering compassion for his father and healing for himself.

August 17, 2015

Forgiveness Can Be Bittersweet

Written by Sharon Salzberg

Forgiveness is not easily granted. But, summoning the deepest compassion for ourselves and others may allow both parties to move on without bitterness. Through the bittersweet story of her friend, Sharon Salzberg imparts a lesson about the shifting course of relationships and a path to peace.

August 7, 2015

To See One Another Broken

Written by Courtney E. Martin

Rituals provide structure for the full spectrum of our emotional lives - but for those who don't identify with an organized religion, how are rituals developed? Courtney Martin ponders the "muddy, sacred" experience of creating rituals.

May 26, 2015

Who Will Be My Guide in This Darkness?

Written by Lauren Small

Pediatric oncologists and parents alike are searching for someone to help them bear the suffering they must witness. An essay reflecting on doctors, Dante, and treating children with cancer.

May 6, 2015

Embracing All the Layers of Your Life

Written by Parker J. Palmer

A trip down the Grand Canyon (and, of course, a poem) reveals a truth and shows us all that we are most whole when we live in the layers of our being.

February 20, 2015

Struggling to Find the Silver Lining in Severed Friendship

Written by Courtney E. Martin

Closure may not be all it's cracked up to be. Courtney Martin on the death of a friendship and the insatiable, sometimes unsatisfying, need to create silver linings where none exist.

January 14, 2015

A Thread to Guide Us

Written by Parker J. Palmer

When we succumb to the distractions of this life and the will of others, we must hold onto something. But what? Some questions to turn over and explore to guide you.

January 4, 2015

Only Air and Light Remained

Written by Douglas Danoff

Have our funeral rituals disengaged us from the embodied act of physically burying the dead? A grandson on the our discomfort about death — and we can reconnect with the lives we lost.

December 16, 2014

I Lost My Sister to Cancer

Written by Joe DePlasco

A brother contemplates the loss of his sister to cancer, the place where she searched for home, and the stories that rise up within him.

December 12, 2014

Breaking Bread and Healing Hearts One Dinner Party at a Time

Written by Courtney E. Martin

Lennon Flowers and Carla Fernandez are creating a national movement of dinner parties for 20-30 year olds that are humanizing grief and creating new communities after loss.

November 22, 2014

The Indominatable Will of the Soul to Live: A Survivor’s Account of Suicide

Written by Rebekah Cowell

For International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day, a suicide survivor asks us open ourselves to loss and allow each other the space to mourn and grieve without shame. If we support the healing of the soul, she writes, we may begin to celebrate our inner resilience and the divine spark in us all.

November 17, 2014

The Spectrum of Joy and Sorrow in a Song (Your Audio Selfie)

Written by Bekah Johnson

Sometimes a song can help us through the darkest hours of our lives. Reflecting upon the loss of her father, Jen Raffensperger shares Josh Ritter's "Lantern" as her greatest musical moment for the Your Audio Selfie project.

November 16, 2014

The Story Behind Bach’s Monumental Chaconne

Written by Mariah Helgeson

Listen to this virtuosic performance of Bach's much-heralded chaconne for solo violin — a complicated, messy, transcendent portrait of grief, at once personal and universal.

August 6, 2014

Hoping to Rekindle My Memory

Written by Parker J. Palmer

Some good humor on forgetfulness and poignant verse from the poet Billy Collins to sweeten the swallow.

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