The Artists’
Grief Deck

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.

2019, the year that brought me to my knees. The year I entered a major depressive episode with which I am still struggling. Living and working with chronic illness was killing me... my body and brain...

Take a long bath. Soak yourself into the warm water, and close your eyes. Feel the water touching your skin, After you finish, Wrap yourself with your favorite bath towel....

The musing below helps me let go. Whenever we paint our nails, we are more aware of the bones of the fingers. Take those moments with your body. The tick marks of my life that used to hold milestones...

Find a supportive space to create a place to sit. Light a candle. Let yourself have some time sitting with this candle light. Your eyes can be softly open or closed. Think with this light. Feel with t...

Upon lighting — becoming aware of anything you are grieving or wanting to honor as it is lost to the earth and the stars — (ex. a person, or beliefs about this country, world, a relationship, a pa...

This image reenacts the final weeks of my mother's life, holding vigil in her room, surrounded by condolence flowers, waiting for death to relieve her pain. Having experienced the anticipatory grief o...

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....

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...

Exercise is an important component to staying healthy and is a natural mood-elevator. What are your favorite physical activities? How could you incorporate more movement into your daily life? Can you...

One question I have about death is… I wish I could ask the person who died…...

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...

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...

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...

Dealing with sudden change...

Recall moments of tenderness, both human and otherwise: the touch of hand on shoulder, the needed hug, a note or message, the way that your cats curl together, the delicate meeting of boulders in the...

Although we are living in a sad moment, imagination helps me to endure the pandemic and isolation. Being at home, I imagined places, cities, beaches, river banks, isles, little towns in the mountains,...

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...

Everyone has a story to tell. Today, you have the chance to tell a part of your story in 6 words. There is no right or wrong way to do this. Take some quiet time in a peaceful space and think about wh...