This week we marked a year since my mum died suddenly. A year of challenges, new rituals and a great missingness. A year of building a differently grounded sense of closeness and connectedness with others, of rolling with, and exploring, various thoughts and feelings as they come up, and, more recently, learning to just pause each day and breathe.
Grief is so different for everyone, which is as much to do with the person they are, as the person they lost, and the circumstances that surround that loss. One thought I keep thinking lately is to know and feel this particular experience of grief means also knowing and experiencing such incredible love and loveliness. In that way, I’m so grateful for both these experiences, even though it’s so hard sometimes.
Thank you to friends, family and colleagues for sharing so much support, joy and other experiences this year. To anyone else out there experiencing these feelings I hope you’re finding ways of navigating them that work for you.
[Post originally published on Instragram. Sharing it here as I found it helpful to stumble on webposts from others as I felt my way through this experience.]
Photos: Kath Bicknell
Kath Bicknell 