Anne Richardson

March 23, 2022

Beauty, Covid-19, dementia, Gratitude, Grief and Loss, Grief Journey, Healing, Hope, My Mentor Grief, Pandemic, Poetry, Seasons, Sojourn, spiriutal companionship, Grief Literacy

Lessons from the Pandemic: Stories Grief Weaves

Anne Richardson

March 23, 2022

Beauty, Covid-19, dementia, Gratitude, Grief and Loss, Grief Journey, Healing, Hope, My Mentor Grief, Pandemic, Poetry, Seasons, Sojourn, spiriutal companionship, Grief Literacy

Spring has begun in earnest in the Pacific Northwest. Daffodils are in yellow and orange abundance. Plum and cherry trees blushing to life. And Daphne’s aroma intoxicating for blocks on end. Blue sky, dry days are joy, sun warming Earth and skin. Rain is gentle, coming and going as tide. We need each drop to recover from a lingering drought. That the rain falling off-and-on this week without a storm’s full-on bluster is gift. No flooding.

Spring’s energy has been rising for weeks and after two years of all the upheaval Covid has wrought, there is a giddiness in the air of hope that the worse is behind us, even as more chapters are being written. At least that is what the birds are singing. Or…it is mating season?

Anne Richardson

November 4, 2021

Grief and Loss, Healing, My Mentor Grief, Seasons, Thresholds, Trauma, Pandemic

Lessons from the Pandemic: When Grief Stirs in the Bones

Anne Richardson

November 4, 2021

Grief and Loss, Healing, My Mentor Grief, Seasons, Thresholds, Trauma, Pandemic

Those winds that whip the leaves off the trees predictably in November came in mid-October to the Pacific NW this year. You may have heard about the “bomb cyclone” off the Northern Coast of California that brought buckets of rain to soothe the drought for the time being in dramatic fashion. Mega-fire concerns replaced by mudslides and flooding. Yikes! A conga line of storms expanded up the coast to where I live. Yes, this drought parched region needed a thorough watering. But all at once? I promised myself I wouldn’t complain about the steady drip of rain until at least March and so far I’m keeping that promise. Check in with me next month as I seem to return from most walks somewhere between damp and sopping and may soon be growing moss behind my ears.

Anne Richardson

August 30, 2021

Ambiguous Loss, Covid-19, Gratitude, Grief, Grief and Loss, Grief and Loss Workshops, Healing, My Mentor Grief, Pandemic, Poetry, Seasons, spiriutal companionship, Trauma, Workshops

Lessons from the Pandemic: You Cannot Fail at Grief

Anne Richardson

August 30, 2021

Ambiguous Loss, Covid-19, Gratitude, Grief, Grief and Loss, Grief and Loss Workshops, Healing, My Mentor Grief, Pandemic, Poetry, Seasons, spiriutal companionship, Trauma, Workshops

They are back! Crickets’ evening chirping filling every crevice of air from twilight to well after moonrise. Softening as night deepens. It soothes me. The heat of summer has waned for now and fans are off. The constant whirl of blades and the clicking on/off of my portable A/C (to which I offer copious gratitude) entered my inner world as invader not kin. The return of the crickets offers a reminder. Reminder that this long, hot, dry season is moving forward toward autumn, my favorite season.

The unfolding of seasonal change. The monthly moon cycle. Visiting the Oregon Coast and watching the daily ebb and flow of the tide. This is the medicine I need—the reminder that time continues to weave a story beyond my own. Nature helps me step outside my story. Shift perspectives. Return to gratitude. I didn’t realize how much I needed that reminder.

Anne Richardson

June 16, 2021

Beauty, Breathing, Covid-19, Gratitude, Grief, Grief and Loss, Grief Journey, Healing, My Mentor Grief, Pandemic, Poetry, Trauma

Lessons from the Pandemic: Where's the Grief?

Anne Richardson

June 16, 2021

Beauty, Breathing, Covid-19, Gratitude, Grief, Grief and Loss, Grief Journey, Healing, My Mentor Grief, Pandemic, Poetry, Trauma

An invitation. A plea. Please, what ever you are doing in this moment—stop. Take a minute. Two. A half-hour. More. Breathe deeply if you are able. Too much? Then shallow, light breaths. Pants. Sips of air. If that is all your body can handle—take that in and then let those molecules slip out between your lips, one-by-one. Slide back in. Slow yourself down. Please. No hurry to read the rest of this blog. Set your phone down. “Sleep” your computer. Take time to nurture your soul. My words will be waiting. Step away for a spell and I’ll reconnect with you in a while…

Anne Richardson

March 26, 2021

Covid-19, Grief and Loss, Grief and Loss Workshops, Healing, Lament, My Mentor Grief, Pandemic, Seasons, Winter, Workshops, Hope

Lessons from the Pandemic: What Does Hope Look Like These Days?

Anne Richardson

March 26, 2021

Covid-19, Grief and Loss, Grief and Loss Workshops, Healing, Lament, My Mentor Grief, Pandemic, Seasons, Winter, Workshops, Hope

In the Pacific NW come February, early March, we get our annual spring preview. Clouds practice social distancing, the Sun teases us with a splash of warmth and we shed at least one sweater layer as light streaks through the blue expanse. Some even brave laying on the grass—arms, feet and legs exposed. Sure, it will be below freezing in a few days, but the reprieve is luscious. The trees know it is temporary and keep bud tips closed except for the cherries. Their vulnerability is our delight. Sure enough, the rain returns with a winter bite. But the first rain after “preview” offers a promise. As I step out my door and inhale, the aroma of daffodil and daphne odora saturates the air. It is a shift from a winter rain, reminding me of when Grief makes that shift from deep, early loss. The pungent scent has traveled in the droplets. Little Hope sacs splashing at my feet.

Anne Richardson

January 29, 2021

Brokenness, Darkness, Gratitude, Grief, Grief Journey, Healing, My Mentor Grief, Pandemic, Pilgrimage, Poetry, spiritual journey, spiriutal companionship, Thresholds, Wildness, Apprentice, Questions

Lessons from the Pandemic: Deep Weariness, Changing the Conversation, Asking Beautiful Questions

Anne Richardson

January 29, 2021

Brokenness, Darkness, Gratitude, Grief, Grief Journey, Healing, My Mentor Grief, Pandemic, Pilgrimage, Poetry, spiritual journey, spiriutal companionship, Thresholds, Wildness, Apprentice, Questions

In my dreams I don’t wear a mask. No one does. It is not a thing. There is no pandemic. My dreams are still full of disjointed images. Metaphorical and archetypal meaning. But NO MASKS. Even if the dream disturbs me, I don’t want to wake up.

And the other day when I arrived at the grocery store, I had a deep longing to enter without my mask. To have no one wearing a mask. To see smiles and frowns—full faces. To hear unmuffled voices. And that all was “normal.” No bottles of sanitizer at the entry point. No gatekeeper. This longing comes close to consuming me some days. From reading Facebook, Instagram and opinion pieces, I am not alone in my longing.

Anne Richardson

December 22, 2020

Ancestral Journey, Darkness, Gestations, Gratitude, Grief, Grief and Loss, Healing, Lament, Life Transitions, Winter, Seasons

Lessons from the Pandemic: My Mentor Grief Shares the Gifts of Winter Darkness

Anne Richardson

December 22, 2020

Ancestral Journey, Darkness, Gestations, Gratitude, Grief, Grief and Loss, Healing, Lament, Life Transitions, Winter, Seasons

There are stretches on my pre-dawn walk where I turn off my flashlight and stand still. Look up through a clearing. Allow the dark to cradle me. Ambient light on the far periphery (it is never totally at bay in the city.) I can pretend the trees along the path are more forest than park. As my eyes adjust, bare-limbed maples and needle-full Douglas firs texture the darkness. An owl’s call fills the air and I breathe that wondering “who who” question into my body. Even when rain is soaking Earth and the steady drops from merged clouds douse me, these winter walks are gift.

Anne Richardson

October 28, 2020

Abundance, Belonging, Breathing, Covid-19, Gratitude, Grief, Grief and Loss, Healing, Life Transitions, Stillness, Pandemic, Pilgrimage, My Mentor Grief, spiriutal companionship, Workshops

Lessons from the Pandemic: Being with Stillness is Expansive

Anne Richardson

October 28, 2020

Abundance, Belonging, Breathing, Covid-19, Gratitude, Grief, Grief and Loss, Healing, Life Transitions, Stillness, Pandemic, Pilgrimage, My Mentor Grief, spiriutal companionship, Workshops

I am meeting an old friend this week. It has been over seven months since we last connected. I can’t wait until we embrace. AND I am not going to wear a mask! Are you concerned I’ve lost my bearings eight months into the pandemic living in a country where COVID is on the rise?

The friend? The pool where I went lap swimming four, five days a week until mid-March when public facilities were closed. These places of gathering becoming a risk factor that could be controlled while information about the virus was gathered. The facility now allows 45-minute slots to swim, only two people allowed in our three-lane pool at a time—one empty lane between us. I was able to snag four rendezvous over the next two weeks. I am giddy with excitement.

Anne Richardson

October 5, 2020

Breathing, Gratitude, Grief and Loss, Healing, Life Transitions, My Mentor Grief, Pandemic, Poetry, spiritual journey, spiriutal companionship, Thresholds, Stillness

Lessons from the Pandemic: Open to Stillness, Open to Being Brave

Anne Richardson

October 5, 2020

Breathing, Gratitude, Grief and Loss, Healing, Life Transitions, My Mentor Grief, Pandemic, Poetry, spiritual journey, spiriutal companionship, Thresholds, Stillness

Mornings start in the dark. Reflective gear strapped on. Flashlight in hand. I set out with a few stars visible on cloudless mornings and Mars moving toward setting. It is autumn and the air, despite an unusual warm spell during the daylight hours, has the temperament of fall. A hint of chill. Leaves have begun to tumble downward and are crisp under foot. A crimson thread of light stitches the earth to the sky. As minutes pass, dawn opens its arms to me. Trees that were easily distinguishable on summer jaunts, transform from shadow to shape to friend. By the time I reach The Summit, an hour into my walk, day has arrived. My mind is streaming with snippets of poems or pondering an essay or talk I have heard. And I am ready to drop into my daily gratitude practice at the highest point in my neighborhood where outlines of cityscapes and mountains merge in the distance.

Anne Richardson

January 22, 2020

Ancestral Journey, Gratitude, Grief Journey, Healing, Life Transitions, My Mentor Grief, Sojourn, writing

Grief: On Keening, Honesty, Healing, and even a bit of Whimsy

Anne Richardson

January 22, 2020

Ancestral Journey, Gratitude, Grief Journey, Healing, Life Transitions, My Mentor Grief, Sojourn, writing

The rain has settled in for the day as I settle into the beige velvet chair of my hotel room—laptop open, journals in piles, scattered papers, and iPhone camera roll close at hand. I have returned to my favorite retreat during the winter months—the Oregon Coast. Cannon Beach. I have come to write. Take time to focus on what is becoming a persistent poke at my heart. Actually, it is more akin to having several toddlers gathered around my ankles all vying for my attention. “Write me!” “No, work on me!” Poems. Non-fiction prose. Blog posts. That book about my spiritual sojourn and weaving it into the journey through my mother’s Alzheimer’s. How grief became my mentor through that journey. That area where from my training and experience I am an expert, so I have something to offer, right? They are all clamoring for my attention.

Anne Richardson

November 5, 2019

Grief, Grief and Loss Workshops, Brokenness, Healing

Shattered: On Loss, Grief, and Growth

Anne Richardson

November 5, 2019

Grief, Grief and Loss Workshops, Brokenness, Healing

Perhaps a year after we moved into our home and furniture finally made an appearance in our living room, my ex and I purchased two pieces of art. It was a stretch for us, but both pieces brought us pleasure over the years. One piece was a large, glass-blown plate saturated with turquoise, navy, pearl, rose, and fuchsia elegance. Heavy, it sat upright nested in a plastic holder on the console table behind the couch where on bright days it would retain the sun’s heat. The plate witnessed birthday parties, holiday gatherings, graduations, and close to three decades of life passing by. If you believe, like I do, that even inanimate objects can soak in the energy of a home, this one held love and loss, sadness and acceptance, disappointment and relief…and bundles of laughter. That plate appeared in a myriad of family photos as it remained in the same spot for over 27 years until we sold our home and divorced four years ago. It absorbed our stories as much as it absorbed the heat of the sun.

Anne Richardson

March 26, 2019

Ancestral Journey, Grief, Grief Journey, sojourn home, Healing

Sojourning with Grief-Scars Tell Our Stories

Anne Richardson

March 26, 2019

Ancestral Journey, Grief, Grief Journey, sojourn home, Healing

Funny how Grief will turn our heads and hearts toward the past before we step into the unknown. Five years ago: my mother still living, and I, struggling with her fading. Five years ago: still married, the hard decision to divorce loitering in the shadows waiting for courage to arrive. Five years ago: mired in stress, I drew solace in my work as a hospice chaplain. Five years ago: the trees gathered my heart in, knowing I was a sojourner in spirit if not yet in body. Knew I would be returning over and over to them for guidance and healing.

Lessons from the Pandemic: Stories Grief Weaves

Lessons from the Pandemic: When Grief Stirs in the Bones

Lessons from the Pandemic: You Cannot Fail at Grief

Lessons from the Pandemic: Where's the Grief?

Lessons from the Pandemic: What Does Hope Look Like These Days?

Lessons from the Pandemic: Deep Weariness, Changing the Conversation, Asking Beautiful Questions

Lessons from the Pandemic: My Mentor Grief Shares the Gifts of Winter Darkness

Lessons from the Pandemic: Being with Stillness is Expansive

Lessons from the Pandemic: Open to Stillness, Open to Being Brave

Grief: On Keening, Honesty, Healing, and even a bit of Whimsy

Shattered: On Loss, Grief, and Growth

Sojourning with Grief-Scars Tell Our Stories

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