Letting Go of Grief

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Something strange happened to my grief, something that has been difficult to write about.

It faded.

I feel it much less these days.

I know it is a natural course of the grieving process, but it feels strange nonetheless.

At first, I felt mixed about it. Some days I would miss the feelings of grief.

It was like an old friend, and in many ways felt like an emotional connection to the person I had lost — something that felt alive.

And yet I knew that rather than holding on to the grief, I had to let it go.

Letting go didn’t mean losing the person and all the memories I had. Instead, it meant letting grief take its natural course and not holding onto it out of fear or even, comfort. Somehow grief had become comfortable over time, familiar.

It felt strange at first when I started this journey to keep my heart open to grief and all that it brought, and at this point, with grief fading, it felt strange to keep my heart open to this experience as well.

What I have found in keeping my heart open to the fading of grief is that doing so opened up more room for other emotions that naturally came in, emotions like joy and contentment.

This too, felt odd in the beginning and in some ways, losing grief was another loss in and of itself, like so many of the natural losses that you experience over time when you lose someone in your life.

I’m still struggling with this, but I know it is healthy and Im curious where an open heart will take me.

Grief is still present, but it visits less intensely and less often. And I guess I’m experimenting with giving myself permission to let go.

Have you experienced a natural fading of your grief over time? What has this experience been like for you?

Dear readers — thank you for reading this post. it means so much to me. If you enjoyed it, I invite you to connect with me through the comments below and to share the post with someone who you think might also find it helpful in living with grief. You might also find my book, Grieving the Loss of a Love: How to Embrace Grief to Find True Hope and Healing After a Divorce, Breakup, or Death helpful to read or to pass along to others. Thank you again.

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