The Artists’
Grief Deck

Explaining how you feel to someone who has never experienced grief is a difficult process. Sometimes the English language does not have the words we need. Photograph yourself depicting what your feeli...

This piece, What Is To Come, derives from a time that I observed my husband sitting for a long moment in contemplation. He had just returned home to us after serving time in federal and immigration detention centers.

"Don't forget about music during the hard times, it will help you." These were my dad's dying words. Choose a piece of music that speaks to you in the moment. Create an intentional listening space by...

What is the moment you hold in memory when you were the most alive with your beloved? Dwell in the knowing of that aliveness. Remember the light that day, the way the air felt around you. The sounds,...

We don’t always allow other people to see or know the way we are feeling on the inside. When we mask our feelings, sometimes the feelings get bigger or come out in ways that we can’t control or do...

Grief is a four-dimensional possession. It fills some part of this room, and it also reaches back in time and toward the future. First study how 3D objects are enclosed: how 2D cloth or paper can be l...

Get out some paints and let your mind relax. Paint large strokes or circles – It doesn’t have to be anything you recognize. Give each color a feeling, if you desire, and pick which colors you want...

Cross your arms as if you are giving yourself a hug, gently tap your shoulders with your hands until you start to feel a little bit calmer....

Interplaying with the grief. Put on a piece of music (3-5 min long instrumental works great) and begin to move. Taking care of your body and listening - Does it need to move gently with a swaying moti...

Common misconceptions of grief assert that the grief journey is universal, linear, and predictable. However, grief is not a monolithic experience; instead, grief is unique to the individual. While oth...

It’s okay if you’re angry. Angry at the person for dying. Angry at yourself for not saying the right thing. Angry at the doctors for not catching it sooner. Angry at friends for not understanding....

During this great global quarantine, our behavior has been shaped by the contamination of the world. We have separated ourselves from others in order to escape the virus outside, which is invisible, s...

A ritual you can initiate following the loss of a loved one to process grief and also honor your loved one, is to carry on a cherished tradition of theirs. This tradition can be something benevolent s...

Make your mark on the past. Having lost my dad aged 5 & several other people close to me throughout childhood, people expect my childhood to have been sad or dark. But in fact it was packed with c...

Pretend a newspaper reporter is interviewing you to learn about grief and loss and your job is to teach them. What would you want them to know about what it’s like to be you since your loved one die...

Release. Letting go is a natural process of nature. The leaves of trees fall as they turn into gold and drift lighter and lighter, drifting in the wind. Try to be like that. Feel yourself floating as...

I am mourning the loss of my newfound rabbit love, who only tolerated me. She escaped, in heat, to what I hope are adventures, but I am afraid – as I cope with fears of Covid, a zoologic pandemic it...

Imagine a vase with flowers and those flowers are the person you are missing (if you have a vase and real flowers, this will work). Now imagine the smell of the flowers and picture the person. Does th...

Can you be happy at the crossroads of grief? Is it allowed? Do you feel guilty for being happy sometimes? Place your bare feet flat on Mother Earth, your hands on your heart and close your eyes. Inhal...