grief

At the heart of the experience of grief is a sharp and painful focus on what is 'missing', on what is 'not here' anymore, on what has been 'lost'; on the absence of something or someone, rather than their loving presence.

Grief contains the loss of a familiar dream of how things 'were going to be', a shattering of the status quo, exploded expectations, ruined hopes.

Healing involves a subtle shift of focus – from what is absent to what is present, from what has been lost to what was never lost, from what is not here (and will never return) to what is still here. From death to life. From lost love, to love in spite of loss.

~ Jeff Foster