Stories of Loss and Grief

Dealing with loss is a very difficult and demanding journey. It is usually lonely. Grief is the response to loss and is normal and healthy. Most people recover from loss, they are changed and they may become stronger and wiser as a consequence. Sometimes people need specialist help. Others may just need a safe supportive space to talk about their experience. There are many different sorts of loss. There is bereavement loss, there is loss in relation to a significant life change and there are the regular painful living losses that puncture our lives.

Bourke Street: solidarity and gentleness in the midst of violence

A tide of flowers swept the corner of Elizabeth and Swanston streets. People stood or sat silently on the stone steps. Mothers whispered to children. Children were uncertain and placed teddy bears or notes on to the floral mound. Most did not speak. This was holy ground.

Lest We Forget the Horror of War

Crowds throng to the street on Anzac Day to cheer the men and women of the battles.  Anzac Cove has become sacred. The glory of war continues to excite Australians. It is an irony that this excitement may unsettle some soldiers who have witnessed the searing of bodies and minds. 

Sometimes we are just powerless

The rampage caused by a crazed man in the city on Friday will linger. The carnage was akin to a war zone. As in war people die, including children, all deaths out of time. Others will struggle with injuries over a lifetime and some will never feel safe again.

When Grief Smoulders

Sometimes grief stabs the heart but is gone quickly, other times it gnaws over a lifetime. I think about last summer when three hundred and fifty houses were gone after the fires.