Surviving Year Two: Week 22

Returning to My Magic

This is Week 22 of my Surviving Year Two Grief Project. Details about all my Grief Projects, as well as Grief Resources can be found here.

We are now solidly in 2017, a new year without my husband in it. While this is still such a brutal fact for me to live with, I am in a much better place than I was at the beginning of 2016. It's not that the pain and grief are gone — it's more that the pain and grief have woven themselves deeply into my soul and is now a solid part of me. Grief has shown me some hidden strengths I had forgotten I had. I have also been returning to my inner witch and spiritual crafter and have been cooking up a new ritual, honoring the transformations grief has brought to me and stepping into a new phase of widowhood.

Rituals are so important. Weddings, Baptisms and Memorial services are rituals. I think we need more rituals to honor the other huge transformations of life. When my husband and I decided to be child-free after trying to have a baby for a very long time, we had an Un-Baby Shower. That seven-day ritual transformed me in a huge way, and helped me honor deeply what I was letting go as well as helping me honor and welcome what was coming in.

I'm very excited and a little nervous about the ritual I am cooking up (again, with my powerful ritual-crafting friends, Lauren Van Ham & Lila Kihn). I will share with you all as much as feels safe and honorable to share, so stay tuned for more as it all unfolds.

Thank you for witnessing me. See you next week.