THE MOURNING PAGES Almost every woman of my acquaintance has lately been in a state of overwhelm. Maybe it’s the time in which we’re living, the turmoil of the political situation, the uncertainty of climate change. Maybe we’re adrift because reentry, post-pandemic, has felt jarring. Maybe our work feels unfulfilling or purposeless. Maybe we're managing our children as we’re navigating the inevitability of our parents’ decline. Maybe we feel lonely and isolated and we’re yearning for the years when making friends seemed easier. Maybe our hormones are out of whack. Regardless, life seems to be moving so fast that we don’t always have the wherewithal to attend to anything more than what’s required, often from a place of logistics as opposed to emotion. What do we lose when we compartmentalize so we can meet the demands of the moment? Over and over? And what happens to our bodies when, in the interest of time, we consistently relegate our emotions to the backseat? When we wait for everything to settle down before we acknowledge the grief we need to address? What might we need to mourn? What might we need to feel joy? In this intimate workshop, we’ll meet for ninety minutes four different times, allowing ourselves the space to express our heartache, releasing onto the page what we’re holding in our body. After introductions and a grounding exercise, we’ll journal, taking breaks as needed. I’ll provide a prompt, something open-ended so you have the freedom to explore whatever comes up for you. When we’ve finished writing, we’ll take a breath and come together to share what we’ve discovered. What have we let go by giving ourselves permission to feel into our grief? In what ways does our body feel liberated, and what will we do with the space we’ve created? This is NOT a writing class. You do not need to be a “good" writer, and you don’t have to read what you’ve written. In fact, if you’re feeling particularly quiet, you don’t have to share at all. Though I envision this class as a catalyst for healing, it’s not a therapy session. You’ll be diving deep as you write, and we as a group will simply hold space as you share what you’ve learned and how you’d like to move forward with your new information. I anticipate a conversation that’s rich and cathartic, one that connects us and brings us peace - and gives us a way forward.