"I have had so many losses and have done such deep grief work in therapy that this was an invitation to tell the story of it rather than re-experience it. It gave me a new way to stand outside my losses and peer into them using a new lens of focus, a new way of seeing and a new experience of feeling. In the role as Writer, I got to share my loss, give it air and bring it into the light." - 2009 participant Writing our Stories of Loss & Grief with Dawn Thompson
Each of us carries within us profound stories of loss. The death of someone we love. The ending of a relationship. Illness that changes us forever. A child leaving home. The aging of a parent. The loss of a job. Letting go of an old way of being. Loss and grief are a natural part of the great cycle of death, transformation and re-birth that characterizes the human journey. J. Earl Rogers reminds us, "...art and storytelling are ways people can come to an understanding of what has happened in their life and creative acts are often enough to stimulate the search for meaning and initiate change." Our stories of loss call to be honored. Often they call to be shared. They are profound material for our writing because they hold deep truth and authenticity.
When we approach our stories of loss & grief as a writer, we have the opportunity to enter into a new kind of relationship with them. We often surprise ourselves with fresh insights and experience the potential to more deeply integrate these stories into our lives. In this workshop, prompts are provided as possible springboards into the writing. We do not talk about our writing or offer each other feedback. We write! There is also the opportunity to read our writing out loud and to receive the gift of hearing each others' writing in a safe and supportive community environment.
Because this is not a Grief and Loss Support group, it is recommended that anyone currently in an intense stage of grief first seek appropriate counseling or support.
"...speaking or writing our stories helps us come to terms with our loss and to help reconstruct meaning in our lives." - J. Earl Rogers
Thin Places
The ancient Celts spoke about the thin place, that place between here and not here, where the boundary between heaven and earth becomes soft, porous, and God shines through. That place revealed by birth or death, or beauty, when the heart cracks open.
For me the thin place is the Intermezzo in Mendelssohn's quartet, so like a summer dream. Or the raucous geese guiding their wavy line south, while everyone stops and looks up.
It is the firey glow that just precedes moonrise, the enormous stag resting in our side yard. It is the sorrow of my friends, the candle someone places by the front door, people bringing food, helping to wash the body. It is the gentle grooves of the inscription on stone.
- Alice Hardesty, Writing our Stories of Loss & Grief Workshop, Fall 2009
Upcoming Loss & Grief Workshops
Writing our Stories of Loss & Grief with Dawn Next workshop to be announced
