Finding Peace During the Holidays
By Jenni Klock Morel
Hold love in your heart. Understand that deep love and gratitude can live side-by-side with deep grief, deep pain.
Know your true north. Your lost loved one loved you, as you loved them. They would want you to do your best to find joy in life again, even if only in small ways to start.
Acknowledge the little things. It is the little things that matter most. A knowing smile from a family member. A supportive hug from a friend. An act of thoughtfulness. Being seen, being heard by another. Moments of peace can be found in the smallest of places, if only we remember to look.
For in the dew of little things the heart find its morning and is refreshed. – Khalil Gibran
Ideas To Honor Your Loved One…
- Light a candle and listen to their favorite music.
- Reach out to family and friends who are also grieving and share cherished memories and funny stories.
- Organize a fundraiser in your loved one’s memory. Donate the money to a charity they supported, or suicide loss support and prevention programs.
- Memorialize them in creative ways. Perhaps have a personalized ornament made, or have a personalized piece of jewelry crafted.
- Plant a tree, or have one planted, in their honor.
- Write a letter. Be open to venting or sharing anything that may have been left unsaid.
- Live your life in a way that would make them proud. Have adventures, chase your dream, do the thing that scares you – do it in their honor, in their memory.
Know that ultimately the love you shared is what matters.
And you get to carry that love, the cherished memories, and the ways in which they positively influenced who you are, with you for the rest of your life.
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