The Intimacy of Grief

Although challenging, I appreciate when grief arises.
A glimpse of the vast love that I hold within.
Grief brings Clarity.
Connection to my heart and desires.
I FEEL my Longing.

When I am able to hold what arises and stay with grief, I am actively choosing
to love myself.

Grief is deeply intimate. The most intimate I can be with myself, I think. I get to feel the most profound sense of my love... through the real or perceived loss. The intensity of pain, sadness, anger, disappointment, the heartbreak are so buried inside me most of the time, I rarely touch these places. This is a wildly honest part of me. The place where I’m still connected to you. To me. More connected to what is me, that I cannot see.

When I stay in the discomfort and depth of these feelings (and don’t run away, distract, or avoid), I am actively choosing to be with myself. I choose the truth of my love.

When I choose to be compassionate with my vulnerability, I take a stand to allow what is arising. What is real and alive. And true for me in the moment. When I stay in it, I stay for me. With me. It’s the darkest place I can show up for myself. I am not self-abandoning or making me too much or too little. When I stay, I am choosing all of me. As is. Wholeness. Radical Acceptance.

For me, this is shadow work. This is self love. This is self reliance and responsibility. This is one step closer to freedom.

Photographer: Michael Moore