Posts Tagged ‘dying’
Our Purpose Is Not A 5-Year Plan
Our purpose is not a 5-year plan. The Universe only guides us one step at a time. I quit my part-time job at the retirement community eighteen months after I’d started there. It no longer brought me joy. Worse, it didn’t help me serve the seniors in the way I wanted to. But the community…
Read MoreThe Door That Opened For Me
The door that opened for me was the most unexpected one and it made no sense, but I walked in. December 2008. A part-time position opened up at a retirement community, a job I was neither qualified for, nor felt excited about. As a brand-new immigrant, I knew nothing about seniors in the western world:…
Read More5 Ways to Support A Loved One Who is Dying
In 5 ways to support a loved one who is dying, I offer you ways to honor their passage of time so that you’re left with no regrets. I’m often asked the question: “How do I prepare for the death of someone I love?” This is such a great question because we all find ourselves…
Read MoreHow Does Attachment Affect Grief?
How does attachment affect grief? Should we remain unattached to avoid the pain of loss? I once received a great question from a workshop participant. She was struggling through the loss of a beloved friend. Here’s the question she asked me. “Should I avoid attachment so that I avoid the pain of loss?” The Buddhist…
Read MoreSurviving the Polar Vortex
Surviving the polar vortex that hit Chicago was no joke. I’m a gal from southern India where a cool day is 72 degrees F. Now, I live in suburban Chicago which went through a polar vortex last week. The temperatures dipped to as low as -27 degrees. Wind chills were between -50 and -60 F.…
Read MoreWe are all One
We are all one. This sounds like a complex truth. What does it even mean? Allow me to explain. Ten years ago on the 27th of January my mother took her last breath. I was so broken by her loss that I couldn’t see beyond my next breath. Leave alone, fast forward to 2019 and…
Read MoreA Grief Retreat is A Safe Space to Heal
A grief retreat is a safe space to heal. I say this with complete confidence, having just returned after facilitating a Grief Healing Retreat “Finding Hope After Loss” in Oxfordshire, U.K., with Daniela Norris and Lo Anne Mayer. The three of us co-founded the International Grief Council in 2015, and this was our first-ever retreat.…
Read MoreSigns from the Afterlife
When someone we love dies, there is an emptiness. Signs from the afterlife, however, present themselves if we stay open and keep the faith. It’s like they just disappeared. In that moment, they become a name, the clothes they wore, their possessions, and memories in the minds of those they loved and left behind. What…
Read More3 Lessons the Dying Taught Me
3 lessons the dying taught me have stayed with me all my life. Serving as a hospice volunteer for five years has been one of my most fulfilling life assignments. During this time, I sat by the bedsides of the dying. As I comforted, consoled, and cared for them, I learned. The dying are literally…
Read MoreHow do I get over the grief of losing my loved one?
How do I get over the grief of losing my loved one? is a question I hear all the time. I wish I could offer a magic formula. Many of my clients struggle with this one. There seems to be a belief that there is a destination called “getting over” that we’re heading to. Not…
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