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Jonah as Grief Myth
Today I indulged in one of my favorite Sunday past times, reading Irish poet Padraig O’Tuama’s excellent substack. Today’s essay was “London and the underworld.” As he does each week, he invited readers to submit comments to a question. Today’s question is “what myths have helped you make sense of your lives?” I immediately knew my response: Jonah in the clouds. My response appeared to resonate , so I’m posting it in full here: “My eldest son Jonah died in 2013 following a car accident. I wrote a grief memoir about our special relationship, and Jonah as my Spirit Guide, called “Pine Melody.” I see him in the Great Expanse,…
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Please join my mailing list!
Dear fellow grievers and readers: I’m so excited to build a mailing list for this website so I can begin to offer Grief Lines workshops on line and let you know about Pine Melody readings. Please sign up for my mailing list here. There is a separate registration link to register for an Introductory 3-session cohort of Grief Lines writing workshops. Register here. Once you have attended a cohort, you can drop in for individual sessions. Register here. I really hope to see you soon. warmly, Stacey
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Sacred Grief
I joined the inimitable Mirabai Starr this weekend along with 500 others for her generous free offering, The Sacred Art of Grieving. Creating an instant on line community of grievers takes a tremendous heart of compassion. So many people hunger for a space where their grief is acknowledged and witnessed, and Mirabai created such a space. Sharing stories of grief expands our hearts. We are precious but we are also strong. We file the forms and talk to the insurance companies and give away belongings because these are tasks that the living must do. We also talk to the sky and listen to the birds through which our loved ones…
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Navigating My Grief- Sailing
We never know where we will find our loved ones. When I am sailing I find Jonah in the fluid shapes of clouds, the shimmer of sunlight on the waves, the vastness of the ocean. Immersion in nature is so healing. I know he is a part of it and I feel his presence keenly when I am on the ocean.
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Missing Jonah on Every Holiday
I had a fabulous 4th of July celebration with my family–my 3 granddaughters romping in the pool with their parents, discovering all the toys in the playroom I furnished for them from FB Marketplace, eating takeout that Todd prepared from the inimitable Starving Artist Cafe in Stockton, NJ. And yet, Jonah was missing. He is the tiny hole in the fabric of my joy. And it will always be this way. My joy is always tinged with sorrow.There is a Japanese concept known as wabi-sabi. It is a term that acknowledges the impermanent and the incomplete. My joy is wabi-sabi, but so is my grief.