Tag: Outside

In the Grip of Sadness

Grief can feel like you are being crushed. You may look okay, but deep down you may feel like you can’t escape your own grasp of sadness. It’s easy to lose hope and look for negatives when you are...

Click to Continue

Stop

Go outside, find a quiet spot to be still…and stop. Stop and observe the small details we are ignorant to as we struggle through the day. Sit upon a rock and watch the patterns the birds paint in th...

Click to Continue

Go outside

Go outside. Find some nature. Find a bench. Watch ducks, squirrels, water. Observe your surroundings. Breathe. Enjoy nature....

Click to Continue

Nature

In winter, breathe in the cold, and let the rain shower and cleanse your soul. In summer, bathe in the warmth, and let the light pool and cleanse your soul. That is nature: to be alone, but no...

Click to Continue

Weathering Feelings

close your eyes and look out the window of your mind. tell me, how fares the sky? is it dull or bright? heavy or light? be there sun or rain or fog or? — no matter what you find, just brea...

Click to Continue

Connecting Through Memories

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...

Click to Continue

Combating the Finitude of the Grave

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...

Click to Continue

Reach Back

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...

Click to Continue

Growth

In time of pain and strength, you are always growing. Growth happens in hardship and joy. Growth is non-linear - you flourish even if you can't see it. Our growth is interconnected and rooted in one a...

Click to Continue
A mixed media artwork that has a textured background that resembles water meeting a shore. A long bottle is cutout and collaged in the lower right as if it has washed to shore.

Washed Ashore

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...

Click to Continue
A photograph of a white person's hand holding a photograph of an older white woman. In the background is a large body of water.

Carry Them With You

Find or create a likeness of your lost loved one. It could be a photograph, a small sculpture, an object that belonged to the person or something else. Choose something that represents them at their b...

Click to Continue
A watercolor painting of a circle of many colored stones with a yellow feather at the top and a blue feather at the bottom. In the center is an opal-like stone.

Gathering of Stones

A Walking Meditation Take a quiet walk toward an outdoor place you enjoy such as a park, beach, or woods. As you walk, pick up any small stones that catch your eye. Stop long enough to examine each st...

Click to Continue
A colorful, roughly-brushed painting that features tree-like figures with orange and yellow leaves, and other items in gray and brown and blue that may refer to the built environment.

Tune Your Senses

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...

Click to Continue
A vertically oriented photograph of two older white men kissing on the mouth. They are on the side of a house with white siding and a picnic table full of food.

Be in the Sun

Go for a walk. Find a piece of sidewalk that falls under the sun’s rays. Place your feet firmly on this patch of concrete. Close your eyes and keep your hands to your sides. Breathe. Stay here for a...

Click to Continue
An imprint of a dandelion or flower in red and purple with a pinkish white center, blending like watercolor into a field of dark gray.

Plant

After my mother died, I had the urge to plant something, to watch something grow. It felt good to sink my hands into the earth, feel the soil sift through my fingers. It felt tangible. Plant a tree, a...

Click to Continue
An abstract painting of a landscape that is mostly a rich cloudy sky. The bottom of the painting has swaths of bright red, blue and yellow.

Look at the Sky

Look at the sky.

Look at the sky out your window.

Look for all the variations of color and light you can see. Maybe there are clouds and they are moving...

Click to Continue
A painting in watercolor and ink; the top half shows a head and shoulders in black, with geometric patterns engraved like rays radiating around the head, the face cast down, all against a sky of black paint patterned with the rough texture of the paper. The bottom half of the image is a lighter gray, with the central body of the figure extending down to the legs, which are covered by a small bright green tree with black ink trunk. A small patch of bright sky-blue is visible beneath the tree on one side.

Exercising Your Grief

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...

Click to Continue
An architectural drawing of a turretted building is overlayed with some map imagery. On the bottom of the vertically oriented image are the words "This place has a body"

Disappearing Place

Remember a vanished place of personal importance. Describe it, by writing or speaking of it....

Click to Continue
A digital painting - a small fluffy white cloud, fading into mist on either side, floats against a sky blue gradient, from dark blue at the top to light gray at the bottom.

Instructions for Becoming a Cloud

lie back and rest on the razors edge of earth and sky look up to the clouds now let go...

Click to Continue