Mother's Day can be filled with a mixed bag of emotions, especially for those of us stuck in the pits of grief. Some of us have lost children and itty bitty babies, some have lost mothers, many are struggling to become parents at all, and some of us simply cringe at the thought of being ‘celebrated’ when the world around us is falling apart.
This day brings up a lot for me. There is a bittersweet dichotomy in parenting living children while holding space for the ones who wait for me in the stars. Add on the layers of parenting after divorce, finding myself after leaving the evangelical church, and all the other intricacies that are involved with life after loss. It's the perfect shit storm of balled up emotions.
I feel like I've been holding these celebrations at arms length. Still wrestling through how to honour my journey through grief and hold joy for the moments that are here right in front of me.
It's a beautiful mess.
A reminder that I don't need to have it all together as I continue to do the work that I do. Do any of us every really have “it all together”? I highly doubt it, and I sure as hell don't.
What I do know, is that the more grief I'm thrown into, the more passionate I become about supporting folks in the dirt of it all. Us grievers are often forgotten about. Society hates sitting in the discomfort of our sorrow. Yet here we are, and I won't be quiet about it.
I want to gently nudge you to join my conversation with Cristin from Birch + Bloom, this Saturday at 10am EST (that's tomorrow 😉). We are chatting about Motherhood + Grief as we head into Mother's Day - a day layered with grief, joy, memories and longing.
We are coming together for a heartfelt convo about the grief that lives inside motherhood, whether you're grieving a child, a parent, a dream, or a part of yourself.
We will also be making a special announcement about our upcoming October Retreat (that's right! A GRIEF RETREAT!). A space created with deep intention for those navigating loss in all its forms.
We hope you'll join us!