“Embrace your grief for there your soul will grow. “ - Carl Jung
When my younger brother died at 24 years old after battling kidney disease his whole life I thought that I could move on full steam ahead and be fine. I thought I had grieved for him while he had been alive . He had been ill his whole life and I had had a lot of anticipatory grief. 5 years later my Dad died suddenly of a heart attack and I fell apart. I had never dealt with my brother's death and it all compiled at once. I couldn’t cope.
When I chose to seek support and lean into my grief after my dad died I was able to expand, to sit in my grief and discomfort, and to learn about myself, I was able to make meaning of my life in a new and different way and reflect on my experiences. I was able to move forward in my relationships with the loved ones I’d lost and make meaning that was personal and based on my own beliefs. To create rituals to commemorate their lives and to honor my own grief.
Grief is powerful, it is a reckoning and it forces us to learn new things and climb up from new depths that we may not have been aware we had or were possible. Grief offers wisdom through pain. It offers us a chance to be whole in a way that can only be understood after we feel like we’ve been shattered .
If you are feeling overwhelmed by grief please know that you are not alone. It's one day at a time, one minute at a time, one hour at a time and just focusing on the next thing you need to do.
There is support such as counselling, grief support groups, and the BC Bereavement helpline at 1.604.738.9950.
About the Author: Corinna Killeen is an online grief and trauma counsellor living in British Columbia, Canada. She works with clients all over the province.
If you'd like to work with her book a free consultation or contact her at CorinnaKilleenCounselling@gmail.com
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