April contacted me earlier this month. A reader of this blog since late last year and a person who wanted to share her story. Given this is a collaborative space, where there is power to hear more than one perspective, I invited her to share her thoughts. Her story, of her and her Dad. Welcome […]
August 8 is Dying to know day – whilst I work as a missing persons researcher, the ambiguity of that loss means that we talk very little about the concept of a ‘good’ death because so much remains unknown. Those conversations, the ones where peoples rights are respected, where the journey is as soft and […]
How soon is too soon when we share the stories of victims of a crime? I just returned from two weeks at the beach with my kids. I read 6 books in that time, almost more than I read for pleasure in the whole of 2014. They were perfect holiday reads, stories with tidy conclusions, […]
For a person that exists (for most of my work hours) in the realms of here and gone the idea of losing anyone around me creates fear-inducing, panic-ridden hysteria. I practice gratitude each day in the hugs I steal from my kids, in making sure I stop what Im doing and give my husband a big […]
Grief in online communities – What do you do when you lose a friend you’ve never met? It’s odd how we socially construct ways to live our lives. The invisible to-do or how-to lists that allow the word ‘should’ to creep into our psyche. When I go and talk or teach groups of people about ideas of […]
I was wrestling with a blog post last night. I had crafted it perfectly while reading in the bath and then when I sat down to type it, it was gone. Here and gone. I’ve written this phrase 100 million times in the last 4 years. Its by a woman I look up to – […]
Stories fill in the gaps. The spaces where the world presents complexity and a quest for clarity all at the same time. I’m reading Michaela McGuire’s ‘A story of Grief’ its a short snapshot of thoughts on how mourning can change our landscape. My research is consumed by ideas of grieving for those that sit […]
I’m guilty of a few things. I roll my eyes at the way people jump on online bandwagons. Sharing similar stories but not saying something unique. I might share a hashtag that has been shared umpteen times. I might see people saying something and say something similar myself. Im a follower when the conversations stray […]
A couple of years ago I stumbled across a lovely article in the Herald about a woman. A creative woman called Victoria Spence who was exploring new ways to acknowledge loss. I emailed her. We chatted, and this month (fingers crossed – our children have lovely ways of falling ill the days we put aside […]