Our lives are deeply touched by loss. Leaning, living and growing into and through loss is among the broadest and deepest challenges we ever face.
In the immediacy of a fresh loss the very act of breathing in and out, getting up and dressed, making the bed and facing the next hour might have taken all your available energy. With the passage of time, perhaps you can see your loss through softer eyes. Moments of sheer mourning have turned into something a little looser, a little more like something else might be possible. But traveling from mourning into the questions of ‘what’s next’ can feel daunting. Standing in the gap between what was and what is can feel tenuous at best.
Growing beyond grief is an amazing, incredible journey. Some days it may look like an adventure while other days it can seem uncertain and confusing. What once seemed like the end of something, now may feel just a tiny bit like a beginning. From where you stand now the view may be a wide, spacious meadow with no clear cut path. What lies in the meadow and beyond are yet mysteries to explore. A new identity waits.
As a grief practitioner, I serve as a compassionate companion as you discover new pathways through your loss. Through the companioning process you will teach me about your loved one, the ripples of your loss and the new discoveries you are unfolding along the way. Using tools of listening, creativity, laughter, silence, writing and art-making, we will remember, honor, lift up, discover, reclaim and recover who you were before your loss, who you are now and who you long to become.
The sweetest words will emerge to help you define your path now and look with hope and wholeheartedness upon your future.
As for me…
There are many things that inform my work as a grief practitioner. The loss of my grandparents, parents, my mother-in-law and a precious uncle not to mention the passing of beloved pets have deeply touched and influenced who I am and who I have become. Actively choosing to leave behind a career path, moving across the U.S. not once but twice… leaning into new communities and rediscovering my own creativity in the face of change are all aspects of what I’ve learned about purposeful mourning and the creativity of growth through grief.
My experiences have taught me much. I hold a Master’s degree in religious studies and certificates in organizational development, nonprofit management and mediation.
Most recently, I have completed Dr. Alan Wolfelt’s training to earn a certificate in Grief and Death Studies. I am also a Certified Creative Grief Practitioner through the Creative Grief Studio and a Certified Funeral Celebrant through In-sight Institute’s Training Division.
Contact Deb
For more information about Deb’s work as a funeral celebrant, creative grief practitioner and professional writer, contact Deb Brandt at 317.603.4112 or deb@thesweetestwords.com.