An Introductory ONLINE Workshop to Help Us Understand the Terrain of Grief in Our Lives
Grief is not a problem to be solved: it is a landscape to be known. In this introductory workshop, we will orient ourselves to grief: what it is, where it lives in our lives, and why so many of us have never been given the tools or the permission to truly move through it. Drawing on the work of Francis Weller, we will
explore the many gates through which grief enters, often in forms we don't immediately recognize
look honestly at the forces in our culture that make grieving harder than it needs to be
name the ways we can turn toward one another, learning both how to support a griever and how to ask for support when the grief is ours to carry.
This event is offered freely or by donation. Registration is required.
Who is this for?
This workshop is for anyone who wants to understand grief more deeply—their own as well as the grief of those they love. You may be:
Carrying a loss that feels unfinished or unwitnessed
Curious about why grief can feel so difficult in our culture, and what might be done differently
New to this kind of work and looking for a gentle entry point
No prior experience with grief work is necessary.
What is the format?
This is an online, informational workshop. We will not be engaging directly in any grief practices, but we will discuss grief resources. The workshop will include:
A presentation on Francis Weller's gates of grief
An exploration of the cultural obstacles that shape how we grieve and how we don't
A conversation about grief etiquette: how to support those who grieve, and how to ask for support ourselves
Closing Q&A
There will be time for questions, sharing and reflection.
What to bring?
A journal or notebook
Pens or markers
Why?
Grief is a natural and necessary response to loss, and yet most of us have never been taught how to be with it. Our culture moves quickly past sorrow, leaving many people to grieve alone, in silence, or not at all. This workshop exists because understanding the terrain of grief is the first step toward relating to it differently. When we can name what grief is, recognize where it lives, and begin to dismantle the obstacles that keep us from it, we open a door to ourselves and to one another.