Day 40: Grief and the Pause In the grief world, there is a lot of talk about how important it is to FEEL the grief, to have it, to be in the mire of it. Yet grief isn’t that simple, nor that cruel. Grief also has a built in “pause” button. Some people believe this pause to be “avoidance” or “distraction.” There are certainly times when I meet folks who have compartmentalized their grief to an extent of “avoidance,” yet it’s actually pretty rare. Grief is so powerful that it usually cannot be completely avoided or distracted away. So when you find yourself not having or feeling the grief in the same way, or oscillating to a pause, THIS IS GRIEF AS WELL. For grief has built in breaks and pauses, moments of reprieve and benevolence to catch our breath. #grief #bereavement #grieftherapy #griefcounseling #groundedgrief #acutegrief #traumaticgrief #disenfranchisedgrief #miscarriage #suicide #homicide #infertility #nondeathloss #divorce #petloss #complicatedgrief #griefeducation #ambiguousloss #childgrief #selfcompassion #bereavedparents #bereavedfamilies #bereavedfamilies #bereavedmother #bereavedfather #bereavedparent #bereavedsibling #anticipatorygrief #100dayproject Welcome to my second, 100-day project. I hope to provide a daily offering on something grief-related. I am a grief therapist and educator working with people in Oregon, Washington, DC, Maryland, and Maine. This feed is in honor of each person who has trusted me with their stories and wisdom during their grief journey. I hope that others may benefit from simple and straightforward talk about a topic that can be difficult.