The Artists’
Grief Deck

Patiently wait for the tears to come. When they arrive, soften your belly and welcome them. Capture the image of your face while it is still wet and flushed. Visit this image often. Spend time observi...

Grieving is one of our most natural activities. Thich Nhat Hanh says, "When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don't blame the lettuce. You look for reasons it is not doing well. It may...

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

My dad passed away a year before Covid hit and what made that time of isolation even harder was that I was also going through a really tough time dealing with his passing. As I was trying to get motiv...

I lost my Abuela to this pandemic. It's been months, yet I still cry all the time. She raised me. As someone whose primary love language is physical touch, the pain of not being able to touch her whil...

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...

Helping others will help yourself.

Focusing on others can be a great way to enable healing.

Consider doing random acts of kindness: donating supplies to an animal shelter, delivering flowers to a nursing home...

The solace of nature welcomes you....

Where do you feel most at home? Try to remember the feeling of falling asleep in unguarded comfort, in complete connection with your surroundings. Losing someone can make you lose touch with yourself,...

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...

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...

In grief, time feels like the enemy. Making music helped me find a better relationship with time when feeling difficult emotions. Even if you have not played in a long time, there is no bad time to ge...

Music has the ability to help us feel our emotions without much thought or effort. It meets us where we are. Make a playlist of comforting, familiar songs. If the list is too overwhelming, focus on on...

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.

If you have clay or playdough allow your hands to squish, mold, or shape it. Using a toothpick or pencil, write your loved one’s name in the clay/dough. Spend a minute remembering a way they worked...

What parts of your grief do you want your friends to know about? How about your family? What do you feel comfortable sharing with others about your grief feelings?...

Deep down, our human animal knows how to grieve. Trust yourself. Grief is a personal process, and your grief is as unique as you are. No one has the right to tell you how to walk your grief journey....

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...

Dealing with sudden change...