Something we don’t talk about much in the west, grief.  Certainly not in public or with people you want to keep as friends!  Maybe in therapy or at a funeral, right?  Who wants to spend time grieving anyway?!  People want to have fun.  Go out to the movies or the club.  Go shopping and do something.  Yeah, me too.  But there is “good grief” and more people are starting to pay attention.

Paul and I attended a grief ritual with Sonbonfu Some’  at the end of January.  Neither one of us had before and we didn’t quite know what to expect.

Why did we?  Well, contrary to the peaceful, serene space you find us in at the bookstore and garden, we work very hard to create that and continually fall short of our intentions.  Let’s face it; disappointment, loss, struggle, these things happen in life – for all of us.  We don’t have to live a particularly dangerous life style to experience loss.  The problem is not so much the loss, it’s that we hang on to it, “stuff it” as they say and it builds up and gets heavier with time.  To answer the question “Why did we?”, our load is pretty heavy right now.  We thought it was a good idea to clean some out if we could.  Besides the event was called “Dancing with Creativity and Grief”.

Sobonfu explains that creativity and grief are two sides of the same coin.  When we flush out the grief that is present, the channel becomes clear for creativity to flow through us; as natural as the air we breath and just as abundant.  What a concept.  No need to distract, avoid, numb out – just let it move through.

I got to tell you – Wow!  Words can’t fully express the value of my experience.  What I can say is that I felt lighter, more peaceful and more compassionate as a result of my experience.  The next day I had a spring in my step, I had more energy and was more productive than I can remember for some time now.  Paul has had that really bad flu going around that keeps people coughing for up to three months and the next day it was gone!

Here is  her web site & a YouTube video.