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Happy Spring! Sunshine feels a breath of fresh air, nudging me from the sluggishness of winter and into action. In the early days of my grief, I disliked spring. I didn’t want to be nudged into doing things. I didn’t want the stupid sunshine. I didn’t want April to progress into May with its inevitable Mother’s Day. But the days were relentless—they came and they went, and the seasons kept turning, and I tumbled along with them, bumping hard against every special day. And here I am, a few years later: loving spring again! Seasons keep turning, indeed. Seasons of grief, seasons of joy. These days, grief and joy swirl together most every day for me, in a comfortable coexistence. Wherever you are in your grief journey, I hope you feel the warmth of some springtime joy. March recap I had a wonderful conversation with Sandy Ayre, from Yoga for Grief Support about how yoga can help us heal and find some peace as we navigate the newness of grief. Sandy shared so many wise insights: from deep breathing, to meeting yourself where you’re at, to gentle movements and stretching, to re-membering who you are. You’ll want to watch it for yourself! That conversation with Sandy inspired my article Ten non-positive affirmations to ease the pain of grief, in which I share my experience of being a bit traumatized in the early days of grief when confronted with positive affirmations, and what I did about it. I was also reminded of an exercise I did as part of Sandy’s Yoga for Grief Support program, more than four years ago, where I wrote what I called My living grief, about what my grief looked and felt like to me. I dug it up, dusted it off, and decided it was still worth sharing. Finally, with sunshine streaming through the window and an adorable new family member chasing her tail by my feet, I wrote a short article called And yet I find joy. Because, quite simply, I do. As always, my conversations with many of you on Facebook, Instagram, and twitter have lifted me up and cheered me on, and I thank every one of you! Coming up in April This month I’ll be speaking with Leslie McBain about channeling grief into advocacy. Leslie is a founding member of Moms Stop The Harm, a network of Canadian families impacted by drug-harms who advocate for the change of failed drug policies, provide peer support to grieving families, and assist those with loved ones who use or have used substances. Stay tuned to my social channels for the date and time, announced soon. Kimiko and I began recording our podcast, On life’s terms: conversations about family, addiction, and healing. I can’t wait to share it with you—we’re talking to such inspiring people. But it’s crazy how much time everything takes! At this point, we’re hoping to launch season one in May. We’ll see how that pans out. If you’d like to be a guest on our podcast and have an inspiring story to tell about how you not just survived, but thrived, in the face of a loved one’s addiction drop us a note to let us know, or DM me on Facebook, Instagram, or twitter.
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