TENDING THE WEB: GRIEF & GRATITUDE

We live in challenging and extraordinary times, tasked with bearing witness to the unraveling of our world’s social and ecological systems. Whether we acknowledge it or not, we all carry a piece of a larger, collective grief arising from this loss.

As we move through life, we also experience many personal losses, or “tiny deaths,” as we lose loved ones and experience transitions like the end of a relationship, the loss of an ability, or a move away from a cherished home. When we take the time to grieve these losses, we’re able to honor those we’ve lost, and we’re also able to harvest the gifts of grief. As author and grief worker Martin Prechtel teaches, grief and love are two sides of the same coin.

I facilitate workshops, rituals and retreats designed for change-makers, empaths, cultural workers and care givers to process our grief, both personal and collective, in order to be more present, engaged, and powerful forces for change. By doing this work in community, we also strengthen our connections and create shared spaces where there’s room for us to bring our whole selves.

For those of us engaged in Earth-sustaining, justice-seeking work, it is critical to develop practices to care for our hearts and grow our capacity to navigate the times we live in with purpose and compassion. This is no small task, and the key word is practice.

At this juncture in human history, the scale and scope of what we’re losing is almost beyond our ability to comprehend. Genocide is live-streamed daily. Fascism is on the rise globally. The very life support systems of the planet — a stable climate, abundant fresh water, intact ecosystems — are at risk. Staring into this abyss, it is easy to become overwhelmed. We may numb our feelings, which arise out of our deep care for the world and our interconnection with its inhabitants. We can easily get distracted by the demands of life, work, relationships, and surviving modern capitalism. Yet whether we register it consciously or not, this collective loss affects us all. And when we fail to process our emotions, including our grief, that energy can become stuck and impact our mental, emotional and physical health.

“What is your capacity to metabolize what you’re bearing witness to?” — Laura van Dernoot Lipsky

By feeling, acknowledging, and moving through our grief, we restore flow. We affirm our connection with the web of life, and become more fully engaged in the healing of the world. When we’re able to metabolize our grief, we come out on the other side with a sense of renewal and more space for creativity, connection and engagement.

I’m excited to partner with groups to facilitate workshops, retreats, rituals and other explorations in the tradition of the Work that Reconnects, a framework that honors our pain for the world and helps us become more active participants in the transition to a life-affirming society. This work is rooted in gratitude and the fertile ground of our connection with the Earth and each other.

I’m a member of the Work That Reconnects facilitators network, and I also draw inspiration from the work of Francis Weller, Martin Prechtel, and Laura van Dernoot Lipsky.

If you’re interested in hosting a workshop, please get in touch!

Winter Grief Circles 2025-2026

I’ll be hosting a regular series of grief circles this winter, on the first and third Sunday of each month beginning in December. These practice circles will provide a space to gather in community, honor our grief (both personal and collective), make sense of the moment we’re in, and dream into our role in building a more just and liberatory world.

Part workshop, part ritual, each grief circle will be an opportunity to be present with what is, release what is ready to go, and cultivate the seeds we want to grow. As we move through the dark months of the year, we’ll incorporate Earth-based ritual into these biweekly gatherings, rooting into our connection with seasonal cycles. Each session will build on the last but will also exist as a stand-alone offering. Some will feature special guests. Come to one, or all, as you feel called.

Sign up for my mailing list (below) to stay in the loop about future offerings.

Feedback from past workshop participants:

“It helped me feel more connected to my heart and spirit.”

“Really powerful. Wonderful for a brief class — transformative. Such beautiful work!”

“I wish everyone could do something like this. It felt very well organized, focused, well balanced and intimate.”

“I felt wonderfully challenged to stay present for tears, hard in the moment but great to be brave.”

“The process was really effective for reaching objectives. I loved not knowing what was next.”

“I wish it was longer - it felt amazing to open up.”

“Restorative for the soul.”

“Grief is subversive, undermining our society’s quiet agreement that we will behave and be in control of our emotions. It is an act of protest that declares our refusal to live numb and small. There is something feral about grief, something essentially outside the ordained and sanctioned behaviours of our culture. Because of that, grief is necessary to the vitality of the soul.”

— Francis Weller

“The heart that breaks open can contain the whole universe.”

— Joanna Macy