Encountering Grief Phobia

Collage by Dave Hickman

"No way! I don't want to hear about grief and people grieving," she said. "Keep that grief stuff away from me."
My friend is a talented healer and Reiki master. She is a powerful visionary. Her focus is on "being in your divine essence." She agrees with me that some folks, many folks, are walking around like zombies detached from their deeper personal realities, but she vehemently disagrees that "grieving" -- what I would characterize as releasing sorrow -- is necessary.
Can we instantly port ourselves  from a defended emotional stance to an open, fully alive life?
Or is releasing bottled-up grief a matter of personal soul work that benefits the world? Hmmm.

 Grieving is Healing
I am called to create nurturing gatherings where we risk the vulnerability of releasing our sorrows in community. Circles where, by feeling our way into what lives inside us, we build the capacity to live in a world that can be confusing on a regular basis. 
A few weeks ago, at the Eco-Institute near Chapel Hill, I learned chants created by Laurence Cole (the Singing Alive Pied Piper!) which bring joy into the body while at the same time releasing grief. Grieving in community there fed my conviction that the specific use of sound and movement is an extremely effective tool for gently letting go of grief that is bottled up inside your very tissues. 
Friday night we bonded over music. The next morning and into the evening we drummed and chanted and sang and released and sometimes held each other.
Sunday morning, looking around the circle, I was struck at the great soulfulness that lived anew upon our faces. The phoney smile that often we adopt as our social face all day long had utterly disintegrated, and in its place was warmth, wisdom, vibrancy. I want more of that in my life. I believe that we are ON to something.
Join us for our regular meeting of the Black Mountain Grief and Soul Circle, Tuesday, December 12, at 6 pm.
We will have a special second meeting in December, Wednesday, December 27, at 6 pm, with a shared meal. Please bring some food to share. Both meetings are at our usual location in Black Mountain, NC. 
MAY 4-6. 2018 THE JOYFUL SOUL AND DANCE OF GRIEF with Sheridan Hill and Onye Onyemaechi in Black Mountain.
Contact Sheridan to volunteer for this work. Help is needed to coordinate the May community grieving event and to design fliers and emails.