There is grief, and there is mourning, and they are not the same. Both are hard in their own ways, but mourning can be a sweet medicine, a soothing balm that, little by little, helps us integrate our loss, and find new meaning in our lives.

We can't stop grief and we wouldn't want to. "The only way out is through", some say, and that may be true.

Grief can be described as all the feelings that are inside of us. All the pain, the suffering, the sadness, the anger, the overwhelm. It can be a beast - intense at times, subtle at others, completely unpredictable. It comes in waves - often like a tsunami. Grieving is a natural, albeit painful, process.

Mourning, on the other hand, is not so natural. It takes some effort but the rewards are great. Mourning is the myriad of things we can do with our grief. We all engage in mourning differently, unique to our own personalities. Some examples include: journaling, putting pictures of our loved ones on a special wall or area in our home, planting a tree or garden, visiting a cemetery or a place in nature, or lighting a candle at commemorative times. Everyone’s path is different, and the ways that we mourn are as numerous as the grains of sand on a beach.

Little by little, our simple acts of mourning can move us into new ways of thinking and being. Mourning doesn't replace grief, but it adds to it in a way that makes our loss bearable, and often, meaningful. Mourning is medicine for our souls. Join our community, visit the forum, start giving yourself some good medicine.