Anne Richardson

August 30, 2021

Ambiguous Loss, Covid-19, Gratitude, Grief, Grief and Loss, Grief and Loss Workshops, Healing, My Mentor Grief, Pandemic, Poetry, Seasons, spiriutal companionship, Trauma, Workshops

Lessons from the Pandemic: You Cannot Fail at Grief

Anne Richardson

August 30, 2021

Ambiguous Loss, Covid-19, Gratitude, Grief, Grief and Loss, Grief and Loss Workshops, Healing, My Mentor Grief, Pandemic, Poetry, Seasons, spiriutal companionship, Trauma, Workshops

They are back! Crickets’ evening chirping filling every crevice of air from twilight to well after moonrise. Softening as night deepens. It soothes me. The heat of summer has waned for now and fans are off. The constant whirl of blades and the clicking on/off of my portable A/C (to which I offer copious gratitude) entered my inner world as invader not kin. The return of the crickets offers a reminder. Reminder that this long, hot, dry season is moving forward toward autumn, my favorite season.

The unfolding of seasonal change. The monthly moon cycle. Visiting the Oregon Coast and watching the daily ebb and flow of the tide. This is the medicine I need—the reminder that time continues to weave a story beyond my own. Nature helps me step outside my story. Shift perspectives. Return to gratitude. I didn’t realize how much I needed that reminder.

Anne Richardson

March 26, 2021

Covid-19, Grief and Loss, Grief and Loss Workshops, Healing, Lament, My Mentor Grief, Pandemic, Seasons, Winter, Workshops, Hope

Lessons from the Pandemic: What Does Hope Look Like These Days?

Anne Richardson

March 26, 2021

Covid-19, Grief and Loss, Grief and Loss Workshops, Healing, Lament, My Mentor Grief, Pandemic, Seasons, Winter, Workshops, Hope

In the Pacific NW come February, early March, we get our annual spring preview. Clouds practice social distancing, the Sun teases us with a splash of warmth and we shed at least one sweater layer as light streaks through the blue expanse. Some even brave laying on the grass—arms, feet and legs exposed. Sure, it will be below freezing in a few days, but the reprieve is luscious. The trees know it is temporary and keep bud tips closed except for the cherries. Their vulnerability is our delight. Sure enough, the rain returns with a winter bite. But the first rain after “preview” offers a promise. As I step out my door and inhale, the aroma of daffodil and daphne odora saturates the air. It is a shift from a winter rain, reminding me of when Grief makes that shift from deep, early loss. The pungent scent has traveled in the droplets. Little Hope sacs splashing at my feet.

Anne Richardson

February 26, 2021

Grief and Loss, Grief and Loss Workshops, Grief, Grief Journey, Lament, Mother Ocean, My Mentor Grief, Pandemic, Seasons, spiriutal companionship, unanticipated loss, Winter

Lessons from the Pandemic: Isn't Every Loss Worthy of Grieving?

Anne Richardson

February 26, 2021

Grief and Loss, Grief and Loss Workshops, Grief, Grief Journey, Lament, Mother Ocean, My Mentor Grief, Pandemic, Seasons, spiriutal companionship, unanticipated loss, Winter

If you have followed me for a while, you have met “The Sisters,” a circle of Big Leaf maples that I visit on my morning walks. A spiritual connection that has deepened since they reached out to me five years ago. They strengthen my rootedness to Earth, helped me prepare for my sojourn in 2019, are a source of wisdom that I share with you. Our relationship is reciprocal—my offering being love, respect, singing them songs, sharing poems and listening.

Anne Richardson

November 25, 2020

Gratitude, Grief, Grief and Loss, Grief and Loss Workshops, Mother Ocean, My Mentor Grief, Pandemic, Poetry, Workshops, Lament

Lessons from the Pandemic: Lamenting & Gratitude Arise Out of the Same Heart

Anne Richardson

November 25, 2020

Gratitude, Grief, Grief and Loss, Grief and Loss Workshops, Mother Ocean, My Mentor Grief, Pandemic, Poetry, Workshops, Lament

I love this time of year. The Winter Solstice arriving in less than a month in the Northern Hemisphere. Long nights sometimes crisp with stars and haloed moon. At other times heavy and dangerous in fog. Layers of clothing donned for outings…or even to work at home, cocoon me. Bare-limbed trees holding empty nests seem vulnerable. Low-sky sun barely warms Earth.

The other day when I began my pre-dawn ritual, readying for a walk, I checked in with my body, and it asked ever so sweetly if it could crawl back beneath the covers and rest. A mini-hibernation. My morning walks are part exercise and part meditation, so I am reluctant to miss them. The morning wasn’t rain-soaking or freezing or blustery—a ready excuse. Actually, it would have offered a seductive sunrise. I didn’t argue though. I listened, hibernated, drifting into my imaginal world if only for two extra hours.

Anne Richardson

November 5, 2019

Grief, Grief and Loss Workshops, Brokenness, Healing

Shattered: On Loss, Grief, and Growth

Anne Richardson

November 5, 2019

Grief, Grief and Loss Workshops, Brokenness, Healing

Perhaps a year after we moved into our home and furniture finally made an appearance in our living room, my ex and I purchased two pieces of art. It was a stretch for us, but both pieces brought us pleasure over the years. One piece was a large, glass-blown plate saturated with turquoise, navy, pearl, rose, and fuchsia elegance. Heavy, it sat upright nested in a plastic holder on the console table behind the couch where on bright days it would retain the sun’s heat. The plate witnessed birthday parties, holiday gatherings, graduations, and close to three decades of life passing by. If you believe, like I do, that even inanimate objects can soak in the energy of a home, this one held love and loss, sadness and acceptance, disappointment and relief…and bundles of laughter. That plate appeared in a myriad of family photos as it remained in the same spot for over 27 years until we sold our home and divorced four years ago. It absorbed our stories as much as it absorbed the heat of the sun.

Anne Richardson

June 26, 2019

Ancestral Journey, Belonging, Grief, Grief and Loss Workshops, Grief Journey, sojourn home, spiritual journey

Sojourning with Grief-Returning

Anne Richardson

June 26, 2019

Ancestral Journey, Belonging, Grief, Grief and Loss Workshops, Grief Journey, sojourn home, spiritual journey

My half-open eyes see a cathedral in the darkness of my bedroom before I realize I am home. I hear the first notes of birdsong as the light peaks over the horizon and I float with them across the ocean to another land I also call home. What was familiar seems out of place and old routines lie in a jumble on the floor. In my first week home I lost cash, my spare prescription glasses, and my patience while driving. One of the few things that feels grounding is returning to lap swimming. Somehow the fluidity of water settles me. Crossing the threshold home after Sojourning with Grief has brought me into an old place with new eyes. The familiar is now unfamiliar. I am disoriented.

Anne Richardson, M.A. is a Board Certified Chaplain, Certified Veriditas Labyrinth Facilitator, Certified Spiritual Director and poet. Read more...

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Lessons from the Pandemic: You Cannot Fail at Grief

Lessons from the Pandemic: What Does Hope Look Like These Days?

Lessons from the Pandemic: Isn't Every Loss Worthy of Grieving?

Lessons from the Pandemic: Lamenting & Gratitude Arise Out of the Same Heart

Shattered: On Loss, Grief, and Growth

Sojourning with Grief-Returning

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