Spring’s Guidance for the Grieving Heart

Dear One,

I am here to remind you that everything that dies is reborn.

No matter how hard it is to jolt your broken heart back to life, with tender care and careful attention to the memories planted deeply in your heart, winter’s heaviness will pass, and you will come to life again. It is normal for emotions to be erratic, cause overwhelming exhaustion and a sleepiness of the soul. For eons I have awakened slumbering animals, bird, twigs, even the soil itself. Some things resist the rousing, so I sympathize with how hard it can be to manage the growth spurts of grief. I assure you, restoration is my best work. From the soaking rains to the fickle frosty days chased by summer-like ones, I am renewal incarnate. I promise that what is deep in the earth’s darkness, will bud and flourish.

People never die, only their bodies do. I can help you build that new relationship with the person whose body is gone, but spirit is alive. I am accustomed to watching the mighty oaks lose their leaves and grow beautiful new ones again. Although my trees never look quite the same, their essence never changes. Dear grieving heart, it is good to consider that your loved one was so much more than a body. Their heart and soul, thoughts, personality, talents and actions defined them and are eternal. The work of grief is to place these securely in your memory and heart, so as to enjoy them forever. Remember to treat yourself to the pleasures of memory for these are healing balm for the soul.

When a springtime storm surprises you, know that it can be both destructive and restorative. It is complex, but new life is often brought about through what seems devastating. Like a storm, grieving can be frightful, so be gentle with yourself. Honor your grief, for it too has its seasons and needs time.

Springtime rebirth has taught me a thing or two, so I offer this advice:

• Good days and bad days are not to be judged as better or worse, each has renewal and healing.
• Grief makes you tired, especially the labors of the heart. Water the drought in your heart by getting outside and uniting with all that is struggling to come back to life.
• Breathe, breathe deeply, taking in the scents of freshly mown grass and spring rains. Deep breathing is a natural relaxant.
• I have so many beautiful things to see, do not let grief shut your eyes.
• Renewal and restoration take time, be patient with yourself.
• Expect the springtime storms in your heart, but do not fear them.
• Let your heart be roused and permit the sadness to find its way to your mouth. Sharing grief, lessens its hold on you. Like trees that share the same water source, a good friend who has suffered loss, can help you enjoy newly blossomed flowers.

Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak whispers the o’er fraught heart and bids it break.

Shakespeare, Macbeth IV, iii, 209

Lovingly,

Mother Earth