Showing Category: Grief Support
Coping with Grief During the Holidays
Understanding Grief During the Holidays Grief is tough, no matter when it hits, but the holidays seem to bring it to the forefront. While everyone else is celebrating, the absence of a loved one can feel especially heavy. It’s completely normal to feel like the holidays amplify that sense of loss, with family gatherings, traditions, and all the usual holiday cheer serving as reminders of who’s no longer there. How Grief Shows Up During [...]
Sowing Hope: A Mother’s Grief & Gardening Journey
When Joanne Royaltey puts on her gardening gloves this Saturday, it will not only be to join in on the Blue Ridge Hospice Sowing Hope grief workshop. Joanne will also be sharing her own story of grief and how plants and gardening have intertwined with her journey. “Saturday October 22 is the 20th anniversary of my daughter's passing — a day I could never fathom would happen," shares Joanne. "I cannot think of any place [...]
What Can Possibly Come from Our Pain?
What Can Possibly Come from Our Pain? What do we do with our deepest and most painful grief? Some bury the hurt deep within, while others give it words and express it openly. Some speak their grief simply, while others process their emotions through creative arts. One family took their pain and developed a video game. After the Green family’s son, Joel, died, they developed “That Dragon, Cancer” – which they describe as “an immersive [...]
How to Speak to a Newly Bereaved Person
How often have you felt awkward, not knowing the right thing to say after someone you know has lost a loved one? Feeling someone else’s pain, especially when we personally relate to their type of loss, can be so uncomfortable that we just want to hide away. But have you ever been on the other side of this experience? Having just experienced the death of someone you love, have your friends disappeared? Staying present can [...]
Kintsugi – The Art of Repairing Broken Things
There is an ancient Japanese art form called kintsugi, in which broken pottery is reconstructed – and in contrast to typical repair work, the goal of the reconstruction is not to hide the broken places but to emphasize them. In kintsugi, the seams connecting the broken pieces are filled with gold, creating a beautiful piece of art that highlights the history of the object. The object is broken but it is not deemed less valuable. [...]
Self Care Menu from Blue Ridge Hospice Grief and Loss Support
What’s on your self-care menu? We all need a personalized self-care menu – the activities that we incorporate into daily practice or use as needed to maintain our physical and emotional health. Having a solid pool of options can help us endure stressful times. Here are some activities to consider if your self-care menu is lacking: Gardening can boost your mood as much as exercise Journaling for just a few minutes each day helps manage [...]
