One of the more distressing manifestations of grief — along with the clenching heart pain, bottomless sorrow, mind fog and exhaustion — is an unrelenting loop of disturbing thoughts. I am particularly susceptible to this sort of misery because I am born under the sign of Aquarius, which loves the airy heights of the mind. […]
I like the idea of a day dedicated to the celebration of love. We can always use more love-consciousness in our lives. The origins of Valentines Day have been traced back to the ancient Roman feast of Lupercalia, a spring fertility festival celebrated on February 15th. This holiday was usurped by the Roman Catholics and […]
Last Thursday I did a workshop on grieving at the El Cerrito Public Library. My film, The Heart of Grieving, was screened and people shared their stories of loss. Very soon we were talking about the mystery that can surround death – things like people timing their death to accommodate the needs of their family, […]
Yesterday I was interviewed by Cheryl Jones on VoiceAmerica. Her show, Good Grief, is about the transformational possibilities of grief. So we talked about the loss of my parents and how that led me to make my film series, Secrets of Life and Death. Interestingly, it was the difficult parts of my parents’ dying: my […]
The wind was blowing strong and fierce the other day — a warm, dry Santa Ana wind that rustled through the plastic tarps in the backyard, knocking off garbage lids and whipping the trees. Unusual for this time of year even for the Bay Area. It is the kind of wind that signals to my […]
At their core, winter holidays are about celebrating the returning of the light. Candles, luminarias, fireworks and Christmas lights are potent reminders of this. It is a time of hope and promise when darkness is at its greatest. Both the physical and spiritual are included in the meaning. In nature, winter is a time of […]
I read the letter in my faculty mailbox a second time. I could not believe it. St. Mary’s College was offering me a one-year renewal of my teaching position — a terminal contract. It was December 1977, just before Christmas break. Merry Christmas! I was sure there was some mistake, certainly a misunderstanding. I had […]
Eating affects the way we feel, how we function and how are bodies repair. This is especially important when we are under stress or coping with a significant loss. In my blog Grief Lessons, I described how I lost my appetite after my first husband left me in 1984. Loss of appetite is not an […]
