By Rebecca Hensler In the world of grief support, we talk all the time about those difficult days: The anniversary of our loved one’s death (which we at Grief Beyond Belief don’t euphemize as their “Angelversary”), their birthday, holidays, wedding anniversaries and back-to-school. But we rarely talk about how we feel about our own birthdays. […]
by Rebecca Hensler [Content notes: The following entry involves discussion of suicidal ideation, suicide prevention, and a death by suicide, all in the context of grief. As always at Grief Beyond Belief, please keep comments free of religious or spiritual content.] The following is entirely the personal thoughts of the author, except where cited through […]
The following guest blog post was originally published in Still Standing blog in August of 2017 and is republished here with the permission of the author. It speaks to the experience of leaving religion following a profound loss, and contains language often associated with faith, such as “blessed” and “prayer,” but repurposes the words to […]
By Nicola Ginzler Sun is red, moon is cracked, Daddy’s never coming back. Nothing’s ever yours to keep, Close your eyes, go to sleep. —Tom Waits, Blood Money So I’m driving the 25 miles down 101 from San Francisco to Belmont, CA, listening to the ever-cheerful Mr. Waits and crying my eyes out. I’m on […]
By Rebecca Hensler, Founder of Grief Beyond Belief I started thinking about teaching professionals about how to provide appropriate support for grieving nonbelievers a long time ago. I can’t remember when I realized we need this; maybe it was when I discovered that the UC Berkeley Extension program in The Study of Grief and Loss […]
Ed Brayton of Freethought Blogs summarizes the story of British skeptic Mark Tilbrook offering grieving people the tools with which they can assess the claims of a “psychic.” A particular “psychic” and her spouse are making him pay for his courage and compassion with threats and a lawsuit. Here is the original flyer he distributed to audience members going to […]
People who know me know I’ve got an off-beat sense of humor. I find most of my humor in situations others would consider pretty terrible, because I have a sick sad little mind, sometimes. We have to laugh though, because if we don’t we’re gonna get crushed. And that isn’t some two-bit philosophy – sometimes […]
This guest blog post from Rabbi Adam Chalom of Kol Hadash Humanistic Congregation, was originally delivered as part of a High Holidays sermon in 2008. We thank him for this contribution to the community of Grief Beyond Belief. Rabbi Chalom is listed in our directory of secular and Humanist funeral officiants on the Resource Page of this site. When […]
The following essay is anonymous. The author wanted to share his experience of grieving — and not grieving — during the early years of the AIDS epidemic with a degree of honesty that made it impossible to publish under his own name. I know I’m not the last man standing, and I know that […]
Why is it that my grief seems to give people permission to invade my personal space? A total stranger and I are talking about our work, the way strangers do. We are on the patio at a club, and we’ve both had a few drinks, so the conversation is a little less coherent and a little more […]
