Grief Is Not a Problem to Fix — It’s a Soul Journey to Be Witnessed
- Weaving Grief
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Grief is often something we whisper about, something we apologize for, something we secretly hope will disappear if we just stay busy enough, positive enough, or quiet enough.
But grief is not a problem to be fixed. Grief is a deeply human experience — a natural, sacred response to loss that asks not for our efficiency, but for our presence. It doesn’t require a five-step plan or a quick solution. It requires tending, witnessing, honouring.
In our fast paced world, we're taught to view grief through a clinical, linear lens. We've inherited timelines and stages, cultural discomforts, and spiritual bypasses. We're told to "move on," to "be strong," and to "find closure." But those frameworks often push us further from the very thing grief is here to do: initiate us into a deeper, more tender relationship with life itself.
The Soul of Grief: What If This Pain Has Purpose?
What would be different if we saw and related to our pain differently? At its core, grief is an expression of love and it reveals to us what matters most.
We grieve not because we are broken, but because we have loved deeply, hoped fiercely, dreamed widely. Grief, then, becomes a portal — a threshold between what was and what is becoming.
Soul-oriented grief work doesn't ask, "How do I get over this?" It asks, "What is this grief inviting me into?". Its slow and cyclical. It spirals and deepens. It teaches us that not all healing looks like getting back to normal. Sometimes healing means letting go of what "normal" ever was.
The Myth of Closure & the Pressure to Heal Quickly
Popular culture clings to the idea of "closure" as if grief were a door that can be shut. But grief doesn’t close. It changes shape and form. It moves, shifts, and changes us. We grow around it. Sometimes, it quiets. Other times, it calls for our attention loudly and unexpectedly. And in this dance, we are invited to be present and keep showing up — with compassion, with curiosity, and with the courage to feel.
There is no timeline for grief. You might still feel the ache years after a loss. You might feel nothing and wonder if you're grieving wrong. You might feel joy and guilt all at once. This, too, is grief.
Tending to the Sacred Wound
When we view grief as sacred, we begin to see our emotions not as obstacles but as invitations. Tears become sacred. Numbness becomes a signal. Anger becomes a fierce protector.
Grief work, then, is soul work. It is an ongoing practice of:
Making space to feel without judgment.
Listening to the body's language, signals and stories.
Honouring the wisdom that loss reveals and the terrain it invites us to explore.
Creating rituals that mark what has ended and what is still unfolding.
We need space to grieve. But we also need witnesses — people who can hold us without fixing us. Who can say, "I see your pain, and I trust your process." This kind of witnessing is rare in a culture obsessed with productivity. Yet, it is profoundly healing and necessary. When grief is witnessed, it doesn't vanish. But it does begin to move. To soften. To reshape. It opens the door for aliveness to return.
How to Walk With Grief, Not Against It
If you are grieving right now, know this: You are not too much. You are not doing it wrong. Your grief doesn't need to be wrapped up in a bow to be worthy of attention.
Here are a few gentle ways to begin tending to grief:
01. Create a grief altar or sacred space.
Place objects, photos, or symbols that help you honor what has been lost.
02. Write a letter to your grief.
Let it speak back. Ask what it wants you to know, and let your unfiltered truth fill the page.
03. Breathe with it.
Let your body feel, shake, sigh, weep. Trust that your body holds wisdom your mind may not yet understand.
04. Name your losses.
Not just the death of loved ones, but the losses that go unnamed: identity, dreams, relationships, health, time, innocence. We call this grief mapping - a way of visually seieng all that we hold and carry.
05. Seek grief-literate support.
Be in spaces where your grief is not pathologized, but honoured. Therapy, community, ritual circles, and soul-based offerings can all support this.
Grief Is Love, Transformed
There is no arrival point where grief ends and life resumes as it once was. There is only weaving — of sorrow and joy, memory and presence, love and loss.
You don't have to walk this journey alone. In fact, you were never meant to.
Grief is not a disruption of life, it is part of life.
Grief is not a sign of weakness, it is a sign of love.
Grief is not a problem to fix, it is a soul journey to be witnessed.
Want more support? Download our free guide Being with Grief — a gentle invitation to tend your grief with somatic practices, rituals, and journal prompts. Or join the Weaving Grief email community for reflections, tools, and upcoming offerings.
About Us:
Weaving Grief specializes in compassionate grief therapy for individuals navigating loss of any kind - death, breakups, relationship transitions, chronic illness, loss of self, and more. By addressing these profound experiences, Weaving Grief empowers clients to grieve freely and live fully. Through somatic practices and meaningful reflection, we’re here to help you navigate these tender moments and rediscover the fullness of life.
Specific areas of focus: death of a loved one (recent or past), life changing transitions, relationship transitions and break ups, pregnancy loss, grief around family planning, chronic illness, loss of Self, and supporting entrepreneurs through the grief that comes with growth.
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