The Artists’
Grief Deck

What you've lost is no longer with you, but your memories of it are. Hold them inside of you and keep them alive. Keep yourself alive. Breathe. Hold that breath in, let it go. In, and out, and in agai...

Look up to the stars, and listen. What are they telling you? What are they whispering to you across the light years? Across the 5.88 trillion miles that light travels every 365 days? From every annive...

Rituals symbolically connect us to the larger world and each other and those who have come before us. There is some evidence the actions in rituals may actually release endorphins, which can ease anxi...

Let it rain....

With a journal you can write out your thoughts, feelings, fears, and emotions. You can be uncensored, unfiltered, and unapologetic. There is no fear of repercussions, only the allowance for you to get...

The outside must seem so scary, eh? I ask you to spare a minute or two to just stop whatever you are doing. Take this time for yourself. You are the culmination of your ancestors and their lived exper...

Sometimes large waves of grief overcome me during the oddest parts of the day, while I’m at work or walking to the subway. I don’t always have an outlet in those moments. Life doesn’t always mak...

When we go through a hard time, we sometimes feel like we're torn up into a lot of little pieces. To help feel more together, rip up some old magazines and glue the pieces together into a new picture....

Read your favorite stories aloud and believe with all of your heart your loved one is listening closely to every page....

We often ‘bottle’ up our emotions because they are just too much to deal with. We might cork them up and throw them out into the ocean hoping they will leave us forever. But without paying attenti...

remember and count your ancestors generously you are not alone find the place that knows this inheritance well - the nook of your elbow, the curve of your hair let yourself feel some light - the wind...

You find a deer mouse lifeless at your doorstep and bury it in the yard. Place your pencil on the page where you imagine the grave. Now begin to trace the contour of the mouse: the skeleton, the pulmo...

Connect with an ancestor, either by genealogy or culture or choice. It may help to imagine or conjure their image, or perhaps you may just feel their warmth or light. What might you thank them for? Wh...

Reach back right now. Plant both feet on the Earth and remember the places where you have gathered, the waters which you have swum across, the flowers that you have planted together. What secrets did...

When I am in my car alone, sometimes I’ll talk and explain life events that have happened to me like I’m being interviewed on a news channel or a talk show. I think about speaking it to the masses...

It is a good idea to clearly communicate with caring friends and family what would be most helpful to you in your grief journey. They may need to be educated on what are common expressions of grief to...

They say that smell is the strongest sense we have especially when it is attached to a memory. In India, I light up incense sticks that remind me of my religious grandmother doing pujas. It almost fee...

It can be very overwhelming, watching and living. Think of the absoluteness of your fingers the sturdiness of arbors. To look past the emptiness right in front of your eyes. To stare at something beau...

In the Quaker practice of worship, friends come together, seated and facing one another, for an hour of silence. For the first few meetings, the silence can be uncomfortable. Maybe even unbearable. Fo...