Different
Welcome to today's Daily Reflection. I invite you to safely come near Grief and move toward healing.
Intention
Set an intention to notice what feels different today from yesterday.
NOTICE
Notice where your thoughts are today. What is coming up for you? Notice what your energy feels like today? If you had to rate it on a scale of 0 to 10 with 0 being no energy and 10 being the highest energy you can imagine - where would you rate your energy today? There is no right or wrong answer. This is about being curious and noticing without judgment. Depending upon where your energy level is, what do you need to do today to adjust for your energy level?
EMOTION
How are you feeling today? Take a moment and identify your emotion. Imagine if your emotion were an animal, what animal would best represent your emotion? Allow yourself to be creative for a moment. Would you be a bear hibernating in a cave, tired, sleeping, resting? Or a turtle tucked into its shell needing protection and covered? Or would you be a bird nesting in a tree, observing the world beneath you? Or a bird flying, catching the wind streams? Maybe you would you be a groundhog, diving into your tunnel to avoid being around others. Be curious. What animal would best represent your emotion? If your emotion could talk with you, what would it say?
ACTION
Give yourself time to be here in this moment and let go of the rest of the demands of the world. How does it feel to be fully present? This is a grounding exercise that helps you fully be in the present moment. Look around where you are and name 5 blue objects you can see. You can name them in your head or out loud. Now notice 4 things that you can touch or feel with your hands/body or feet. What are 3 sounds you can hear? Just listen. And as we get close to wrapping up this exercise, identify 2 flavors you can taste. And as we wrap up this activity, name one smell that you notice.
REFLECT
I’m going to suggest something different. Play one of your favorite songs and pay attention to what this song means to you. Music is a powerful way to heal through grief and loss. It might be too soon for some of these songs suggested below, yet they capture the pain that may resonate with where you are at this moment. Feel free to skip this section if it feels like it is too painful for you. The last song by Robert Rogers is for those who lean into their faith and belief in God to heal from their pain.
The song “What is Heaven Like” by Robert Rogers is a song written by the widower of one of my closest friends, Melissa. We were in each other's weddings and became mothers around the same time. She was a beautiful person inside and out. I am grateful he has honored her memory. He wrote this song during his own healing after Melissa and their 4 children died in a flash flood in Kansas in 2003. I share this story because it’s about how he used music to heal through a tragedy and has gone on to share his story with so many people to bring hope and comfort.
I will tell you this song will most likely evoke tears so save it for a time when you are ready to cry it out and listen. Or when you are ready to feel the power of how gone doesn’t mean no longer with us.
Sometimes the pain of the person that we have lost is the thing that we still have with us. And this actually can make the final step of accepting grief really difficult, because we don’t want to let go of our pain, because we want . . .whether it is conscious or unconscious . . . because we want to still feel that person with us. And that is normal and that is okay. And as you continue to work through your loss and to work through your healing and you will know when to let go of your pain. And remember, gone does NOT mean no longer with us.
Daughtry - Gone Too Soon
Daughtry - Gone Too Soon (Official) (youtube.com)
Eric Clapton - Tears In Heaven
Eric Clapton - Tears In Heaven (Official Video) (youtube.com)
Robert Rogers - What is Heaven Like