The Artists’
Grief Deck

1. Take a small decorative box like a chocolates box or a gift box. 2. Make the box into a little altar to your loved one or group, put a candle in it and go to the beach. 3. Light the candle, put the...

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...

When I lost my mom it was devastating and it was a hard thing to take in. Something that helped me cope was to talk to a picture of her and hold her ashes. This made me feel close to her and that she...

Scribble with crayons on multiple newspaper sheets. Crumple up each newspaper sheet into a ball. Find a dartboard or target outside to throw each of these balls at and let your physical energy transfe...

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...

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...

Take a nap without guilt...

The passing of seasons can be painful. You may want time to stay still so that you won’t get farther and farther away from your loved one being alive. What’s something that you associate with each...

Begin by closing your eyes and think about the sun's daily journey (or moon if you prefer). Picture the colors and feelings of morning, midday, and evening. As you imagine the sun rising then setting,...

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...

If a quality or idea someone’s brought to our lives lives on is us, a part of that someone survives, and in remembering what we’ve learned from them, we re-member ourselves: learn how and who to b...

Grief comes in waves. One day you're fine, the next you can barely breathe. The smallest thing can trigger a flood of emotions and memories, and it can be overwhelming. In my own grieving, I'm often t...

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?...

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...

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...

This simple activity may help ease your transition. • Draw a portrait of your beloved departed • Rescue their handkerchief (or apron, or other cloth of theirs) • Make a Grief Doll and keep it un...

Play a song that speaks to your heart and spirit. Dance and dream. Don't think just let it flood out....

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...

Meditation: "In the future the dead is all of us - jumped out of the earth to dance again. Every step a reminder of rhythm. Woven into our clothes gleam - dragonfly winged - I remember the good ghosts...