At the top of the hill of possible grief, Is where I meet it, Or it meets me. We join in mutual expiration, Breath comes ragged, If it comes, At all. In the haze of the night of possible grief, Is where we feel it, A loving ambush, all prepared. It watches, companionable Offering the [...]
Summary: Francis Weller’s The Wild Edge of Sorrow is a heartfelt book about how grief work is understood and practiced through what Weller calls “soul-centered psychotherapy.” Weller suggests that the act of living calls each person to “take up an apprenticeship with sorrow” that allows us to acknowledge the pervasive presence of grief in human life, including [...]
The loss of a loved one is one of the most devastating events in human life, and this is especially true when the loss is unexpected. Megan Devine discovered this when she witnessed the tragic drowning of her partner in the summer of 2009. In the wake of this traumatic accident, Devine realized that her [...]
The title of Madeline Miller’s retelling of The Iliad is a composite of two alternate names for the classic Greek poem: “The Anger of Achilles” and “The Song of Troy.” This careful bit of wordsmithing mirrors the nature of her project, for The Song of Achilles is a narrative blend of ancient traditions and modern values––a compassionate recasting of [...]