Grief and Meaning

This morning, I listened to Brené Brown and David Kessler's discussion on Grief and Finding Meaning and received the much needed permission to cry.

I cried tears that I know I have been swallowing for the last several weeks as I have kept up, felt optimism, gratitude and hope, taken action, checked in with others, withstood pressure, had (& tried to have) patience and understanding, felt confusion, anger and concern, listened as others shared their worries, hopes, sadness, anger and grief, observed our shifting interactions and the loss of physical connection and community, and how things were. I miss being with others. 

I recently wrote about surrender, yet I realized listening to this podcast that I have been resisting allowing myself to feel deeply into loss in an effort to be strong and brave, and to keep moving forward. The reality is, it is strong and brave to be vulnerable and to have these feelings (thank you Brené) and to express and share our experiences with each other. My world won't fall apart because I cried as I walked this morning or because I admit that I am grieving. Instead, I have the opportunity to live more whole-y as I allow myself to experience  my full range of emotions which allows me to have deeper compassion, connection and understanding with myself and others. 

I highly recommend giving this 45 minute podcast a listen. Perhaps you will find that it helps to normalize how you have been feeling and maybe it can open the door for you to have a vulnerable conversation with someone in your life.

Here are my 4 biggest takeaways from their discussion:

1. We are all dealing with the collective loss of the world we knew and we are feeling so many loses, we can't even count them.
2. We want to compare our losses to others, but the worse loss is always yours. 
3. Why do we have to name it grief? If we don't name it we can't feel it and we have to feel these feelings. 
4. When you are in a meaningful moment, name it and be grateful for it. 

What are your takeaways from this discussion? Where are you experiencing grief and meaning in your life?