Healing Through Visual Art at The Compassionate Friends Conference
I am passionate about art and I am passionate about my family. It was an honour to bring those two loves together when I presented Healing through Visual Art a month ago at The Compassionate Friends of America National Conference in Chicago, Illinois. I started my workshop by sharing about Zachary’s life, his death, and how I discovered creativity as a way to pull myself out of the pit of grief. The conference saw thousands of bereaved parents, and some siblings too, gather together to remember, learn and share. Standing in front of nearly forty attendees of my workshop, I was honoured to open up about my experience and show my artwork made in the darkest periods of my mourning. I presented many techniques and examples of how to use art for self-expression and...
Read MoreLoving Deeply means Grieving Deeply
I was at The Compassionate Friends of America National Conference to be a speaker. I was not there for myself, or at least that’s what I thought. My husband Aaron and I arrived the day before the conference officially began and registered with a friendly lady who gave us the program and lanyards. All of a sudden I couldn’t see. The woman was blurry in front of me. I blinked long and hard. Aaron looked at me, “Are you alright?” “Fine, I’m fine,” I said but my voice caught in my throat… The opening ceremony was the next morning. “What’s wrong with me?” I asked Aaron. All of a sudden my eyes started leaking again. This time my chest heaved as I tried to muffle my weeping. “This is so embarrassing,” I said, but as I looked around I saw that no one cared and actually...
Read MoreGrieving Children of All Ages: Reflections on the Walk to Remember, Chicago
My husband Aaron and I recently attended a Walk to Remember in Chicago as a part of The Compassionate Friends of America National Conference. (I will write more about the conference and the workshop I presented, Healing through Visual Art, in upcoming blog posts.) Something different about The Compassionate Friends, their conference and Walk from what I have previously experienced is their focus on the loss of children – and siblings – of all ages. Sometimes I get very stuck in my own experience of losing a baby that I don’t always reflect on the parents who lose an older or even adult child. I do frequently think about my living children and fear for their safety, but to be honest up until this conference I had not contemplated at length all the grieving...
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