The Artists’
Grief Deck

Healthy thinking leads to healthy emotions. By listening to how you talk to yourself, you can determine whether your internal statements lead to anxiety and defeat (“I can’t do this") or encourage...

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...

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...

Even though your loved one is no longer physically present, they will always live in your memories. Take a moment to re-connect with your loved one through a few favorite memories. Review photos or vi...

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 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...

We all grieve differently and we carry our grief differently. Let’s explore our grief and the places in our bodies where we hold and carry that grief. Start with a body scan - take a couple of deep...

My beloved left this earth and left behind his belongings--his residue.

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...

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,...

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

Look outside a window. Take note of the neighborhood you’re in, with all your senses. Sense the familiar or unfamiliar smells that are almost barely detectable. Hear the sounds that freely move and...

I grieve not only for the losses of the present but also for what could have been. If I stay too long in my head imagining the things I won't ever have, I can lose myself in a spiral downward. When I...

“Flowers in April” addresses the grieving process of losing a loved one and the search of closure. The owl in the painting represents silence of solitude to the people who passed away during the p...

-Forgotten Memories In April of 2016 I lost my mother Caroline. This piece captures what I fell like when I can’t remember certain aspects of a memory with my Mum and how I feel as though the proces...

Healing is natural in a healthy grief process. Being able to enjoy time alone, laughing at a joke or funny movie, planning pleasant activities for the future, having a renewed sense of energy and purp...

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

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...

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...