Grief Awareness Week: A Gentle Reminder That Grief Belongs
Every life is touched by loss at some point. Some losses are seismic…life-altering, identity-shifting, world-rearranging. Others are small and quiet, almost imperceptible to anyone but us. Yet all of them matter. All of them deserve room.
During Grief Awareness Week, I want to offer a reminder that feels central to the ethos of This Mortal Life: Grief is a natural part of being human. It doesn’t need to be fixed, solved or pushed away. It needs room, recognition and companionship.
Grief Isn’t a Problem to Solve
We live in a culture that often treats grief like an error message: something has gone wrong, something needs troubleshooting, something needs to be patched over quickly so we can “get back to normal.”
But grief isn’t an error state; it’s evidence of love, attachment, meaning and change. When we rush to fix it, either in ourselves or others, we often end up silencing the very thing that most needs witnessing.
What would it look like to turn toward our grief instead of away from it?
There Is No Single Timeline
Grief does not follow a linear path, and it certainly does not conform to the tidy (and, in my opinion, misguided) ‘stages’ we sometimes hear about.
Some losses settle softly into the folds of our lives. Others echo for years, resurfacing in new forms as we grow, change and understand ourselves differently.
Your pace is not a failure. Your way of grieving: slow, sharp, intermittent, delayed, cyclical or otherwise, is yours. And it is valid.
Grief Lives in the Body
The body often speaks the truths we struggle to voice. Fatigue, fog, restlessness, tension, pain…these aren’t distractions from grief; they are grief.
Our bodies carry what our hearts cannot hold all at once. Awareness is a form of care. Pausing to name what we’re feeling is an act of self-tending, even when nothing can be “fixed.”
Community Helps Us Carry What Feels Too Heavy Alone
Grief can be profoundly isolating, especially if we feel our loss isn't "big enough" to talk about, or if others around us are uncomfortable hearing it.
But grief was never meant to be carried alone. We heal in circles, not in isolation. In shared meals, in honest conversations, held hands, quiet companionship, and the simple reassurance of being met where we are.
Connection doesn’t remove the pain, but it can steady us through it.
Everyday Grief Deserves Space Too
We often reserve the word grief for physical death, but our hearts grieve many things:
friendships that fade
identities we’ve outgrown
futures we imagined
health or mobility that’s changed
seasons of life that have passed
places we’ve left
roles we once held
versions of ourselves we no longer are
These losses count. They shape us. They deserve acknowledgement, not comparison.
Ritual Helps Us Make Meaning
Ritual doesn’t have to be elaborate to be powerful. A candle lit at dusk. A walk along a familiar path. A meal cooked with intention. A story told. A letter written.
Ritual gives our grief a place to land, a container big enough for whatever wants to be expressed. It helps us translate sorrow into something witnessed and held.
I provided a few ideas for how to use small rituals to support in our grief and honouring the memory of loved ones no longer with us here.
You’re Allowed to Take Up Space
When feelings surface, let them. Tears, quiet, anger, numbness…all of it belongs. There is no right way to honour grief. Listen to your body. Be gentle with yourself. Accept help, and reach out for support when needed.
Resources
There’s a wealth of resources available to help navigate through grief. From books and podcasts to webinars and courses. Check out the TML resource library or head to The Good Grief Trust or Good Grief Festival websites for resources.
