Do you remember returning to elementary school after what seemed like an endless summer? Perhaps your new teacher asked you to write or speak about what you did over the summer months.
As summer is arriving here in the northern hemisphere, I would like to invite you to consider or reconsider the season.
Perhaps you are and have been so busy working and are focused on the idea of summer being a time of relaxation and ease. If you are coming through a season of challenges, transitions, and losses, maybe you have a desire for summer to be something else.
The spring of 2016 launched me into a life-altering summer. I had a picture in my mind of the summer garden I planned to plant. I imagined meeting friends for outdoor music concerts. I thought about picnics, dog walks and enjoying the abundance of eggs my hens would be producing. All this and more until everything changed in what felt like an instant.
My marriage ended. And with it, my energy for the things I usually did in the summer. I felt my life at a standstill as I muddled through navigating separation and divorce. It was a hard season.
In the hardness of it all, things I once did for the joy of it – like planting a vegetable garden, held no joy. Instead, all I could do was be still. Sit in the brokenness of what was left behind. All I wanted to do was hang out on my back porch even as I had work to do. Work I needed in order to survive.
I worked that summer – taking on and performing as many funerals as possible.
I remember one week in August I performed 6 funerals. That turned out to be at least 2 too many. In all the grief, I gave myself permission to live with just enough energy. Yes, I worked furiously. Then, everything else I did was just enough to get by. I walked the dogs. I read books on the back porch. I boxed up his belongings, so they were ready when he came to pick them up. Then I wandered around the house and looked at the open spaces. I did the minimum – like cutting the grass but letting the garden go. I sat on a porch swing and watched chickens in the back yard. I stumbled my way towards a new rhythm for my life.
A watershed moments coach can come alongside your experience of grief and loss providing support, encouragement, education about the nature of grief and insight that can assist you as you mourn. Collaborating with a coach is an investment in finding your way forward after a significant life change. Connect with us for a brief introductory conversation where we will explore whether we are a fit for your current grief needs. Click here to schedule a no-charge, 20-minute conversation where we will learn more about one another.
