Wintering and Springing – or so I hope
April 26, 2024 No CommentsPhoto by Bernd 📷 Dittrich on Unsplash 6th February 2024 We are now into February. There’s barely any snow on the Jura. The hills look like they typically look in April-, or even May-time. It’s sunny, and, standing in the sunshine, it feels warm (though I still scrape ice off my car windscreen on the […]
Read MoreRegenerating Julia
April 26, 2024 4 CommentsMain image by Markus Spiske on Unsplash 17th January 2024 That the brain automatically seeks to join dots and make connections with seemingly disparate things is well known. We need coherence, want to make sense of things, form whole Gestalts, not just because the alternative is otherwise just a bunch of data points, but also […]
Read MoreWith Love From Edward?
April 26, 2024 6 CommentsMain image by Simon Berger on Unsplash. Other photos by Jane del Pozo. 9th January 2024 A couple of nights ago I was working at the end of life hospice. It was my first shift in a few weeks, having not gone in over the holiday period. Yes, the hospice still runs – 24/7/365 – […]
Read MoreThe Rich Wisdom of Dreams
April 26, 2024 No CommentsPhoto by Mark Rimmel on Unsplash 4 January 2023 I tend to be a light sleeper. I always have been, even as a kid. The slightest bit of light, noise, and my own (not even that loud) snoring, wakes me. The upside of light sleep is that I awaken often during the night, and get […]
Read MoreNew Year’s Noodlings and Ramblings
April 26, 2024 No CommentsPhoto by Jamie Fenn on Unsplash 1st January 2024 I am still in a funky space. The “between Christmas/25th Dec and New Year/1st Jan” feels particularly challenging this year. I am still not sure why that is. I have my theories but none leap out at me saying, “hey chica – it’s because of this”. […]
Read MoreMichael – gentle, sweet, wise Michael
April 26, 2024 4 CommentsPhoto taken by Jane del Pozo. Almost seven years ago to the day – 29 December 2016. You had just over three months to live. Writing posted on the Refuge in Grief website on 25 December 2017, and reposted here on 28 December 2023. It showed up in my Facebook feed. I love-hate how that […]
Read MoreIt’s OK That You Are OK
April 26, 2024 1 Comment16th December 2023 Photo by Tyler Nix on Unsplash I am an avid and active fan of Megan Devine’s work – whether her 30 Day Writing Your Grief programme, which I have participated in and facilitated many times; her Grief Care Programme for Professionals; her Journal “How To Carry What Can’t Be Fixed”; and of […]
Read MoreThe Ubiquitous, Universal Language of Grief and Loss
April 26, 2024 4 CommentsPhoto by Elena Mozhvilo on Unsplash 11 December 2023 A friend of mine, N.O, wrote me a note the other day. She said, “Emma – I read your post on LinkedIn about the death of one of the residents at the hospice and your thoughts about it. I appreciate that you speak and write about […]
Read MorePrecious, Peaceful Bubble of Not-Knowing
April 26, 2024 1 CommentImage by Marina Raspopova on Unsplash 7th December 2023 I no longer remember if some of this is a real or imagined story – but my memory tells me that – during the short timeframe when Mike and I knew something was “not quite right” with his insides, when he was getting some appointments and […]
Read MoreAnother Life. Ended. Another Life. Beginning.
April 26, 2024 1 CommentMain photo my own – taken yesterday 2 December 2023 while out and about. 3 December 2023 I am just back home from working a Sunday night shift at the hospice. I am full of wonderings and ponderings. One of the residents, a man called H, died early this morning. He is about my age. […]
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