“Grief and love are sisters, woven together from the beginning. Their kinship reminds us that there is no love that does not contain loss, and no loss that is not a reminder of the love we carry for what we once held close.” ~ Francis Weller, The Wild Edge of Sorrow
We aren’t meant to grieve alone. All of us come from a lineage of ancestors who, in their own unique ways, came together to grieve communally. In many traditional cultures, tending grief collectively was often the “glue” that held communities together. By grieving in a communal space, we can metabolize our sorrows into fertile ground, making way for a renewed sense of connection, belonging, and joy.
Grief is as natural a part of being human as joy, and honours the losses of what we loved: family, friends, jobs, relationships, situations, etc. Many of us are also grieving collectively for the planet, for humanity, and for those things that we expected in life but did not receive. Grief has many shapes and forms, and we will come together to honour the vast spectrum of what grief can be.
Part workshop, part ritual, this gathering will blend song, poetry, deep listening, simple movement, humour, and compassionate presence to allow our sorrows to find their way to a renewed sense of connection, belonging, and joy. By creating a community of care and understanding together, through our heartful attention to each other, we will prepare the way for grief to move through us and to mysteriously create the courageous passageways for us to carry on.
Our day together will build towards an afternoon grief ritual. Throughout the day, we’ll use community singing as a tool to connect with our personal and collective grief. There will also be time for personal reflection and individual sharing in the group as a whole. After lunch, we’ll share in the creation of a grief altar, a place of beauty and meaning that will hold our sorrows during the afternoon ritual. After the ritual, we will come together to integrate and harvest the stories from our experience.
Moving into a communal grief tending space means that we might touch the edges of our wild sorrow, our rage at injustice, or might feel a familiar childhood fear as another participant touches on their grief. Safety is something that we will talk about to establish codes of conduct with one another, and safety might be something you consider before attending: when someone expresses their sorrow or rage, how can I stay connected to myself and my experience?
This retreat is open to all genders, and people who are 18 years of age and more. Bring a water bottle, journal, pen, and your beautiful selves. Please know that you are welcome however you are – tired and weary, fully ablaze in your brilliance, or anywhere in between. No singing experience is required.
