Let Your Grief Feed New Life

Here we are, upon the season of death.

The season that helps us reckon with the truth that we all must face. The truth of endings. The truth of grief. The truth of letting go of what-once-was. The truth that everything changes. That we cannot expect hold onto a single material thing in this life.

We cannot expect to ever-grow and build and expand: this false god-like narrative that Capitalism would have us worship.

No. Autumn swoops in to blow the winds of change and truth in our face, and pour through us the burning-cold waters of release. To remind us of the sacred importance of grief.

Autumn cuts through our whimsical Summer playfulness to remind us that this life, this bounty we feed off of is a gift of death Herself.

We walk upon soil whose nourishment is born from bones and skeletons of animal and plant. We live in the bodies given to us by our ancestors. And for us to eat, others must die. This harvest we reap is a sacrifice of life.

This is something we cannot escape. And it is something that most of us, including me, have a hard time accepting.

This is the season of facing the hard realities. It is a cyclical moment we are given to contend with impermanence. And the time when we are invited to let grief and gratitude pour through us side-by-side.

I’ve been hearing stories and seeing accounts of the latest natural disaster in the southeastern USA. I feel the immense grief and shock over the desolation. All the loss of dreams, of homes, of lives. There's also a wider grief for the changing climate and what that means for not only us, but the blameless animals and plants that are impacted by our toxic decisions.

Simultaneously, there's been so many accounts of the incredible beauty, support, resilience and generosity that is streaming into the cracks of destruction left in the wake of the hurricane. A reminder of the indomitable life that can flow in after terrible loss.

And on top of this latest devastation, tomorrow is Oct. 7th. The 1 year anniversary of Hamas brutally attacking and killing 1,200 people in Israel.

The world has been utterly transformed since this day. And from the subsequent aftermath of the Israel invasion, and the ongoing heart-wrenching genocide of the Palestinian people in response, killing at least 42,000 people to date. Now the war is escalating to other countries, endangering more humans, sacred land, and all of our more-than-human kin.

I cannot pretend there is a silver lining to this kind of destruction. Or that we should stand passive while this war is funded by our dollars.

But, something I invite us all to do is allow ourselves to be vessels of feeling.

We can allow ourselves to cleanse our bodies of the agitation and overwhelm that has built up, so we can be clear passages for death and grief to move through.

Only when the grief is moved and the energy is digested, can the loss fuel our inspired life actions through the temple of us. Only when we let the waters of grief flow through us, can our lives be truly and effectively life-giving.

So many of us are afraid of grief. But I’ve both felt, and watched, grief liberate my own body, and the bodies of others, time and time again. This is some of the deep wisdom of Autumn.

So my dear one, honor this grief that has touched you, or has lived in you, whether or not you are aware of it right now. Bow to its teachings and allow it to move you. Allow it to reshape you into a fertile ground for life to be born anew.