A Letter to you…

 

Dearest you,

Thank you for joining me for "Grief on the Page." I am deeply humbled and grateful to have shared space with each of you — it was so inspiring to see you process emotions, begin to move grief out of your body and onto the page, and explore the many and multi-colored ways that creativity can heal.

This page is not a comprehensive summary of the work we did together, but rather intended to remind you of the resources we referenced, to jog your memory about our writing prompts and/or as a place to return to as a way to take your work a layer deeper.

Wade in . . .

 

With pen and paper . . .

WRITING PROMPTS: Session One & Two

SESSION ONE:

  • Prompt One: As specifically as possible, check-in and write about the following: How do you feel right now? How does your body feel? What emotions are you feeling?

  • Prompt Two: “This is what I need right now.” Tune into needs and wants. Identify them. Express them. Explore them.

  • Prompt Three: “I feel _____ and _______.” Participants are invited to explore this as an extension of Week One, so please notice and allow for the coexistence of multiple, and often contradictory, feelings and sensations.

  • Prompt Four: Speed writing! Spend 30 to 45 seconds giving a particular emotion a color, an animal, a scent, a food and a noise. The emotions used in the example rounds of this prompt were shame and loneliness. The sensations/emotions used in the actual round were fatigue, guilt, and rage.

SESSION TWo:

  • Prompt One: Write a scene about loss without the use of metaphor. Include as many tangible details as possible. Think about how you might utilize all of your senses to capture detail.

  • Prompt Two: Write the same scene with metaphor.

  • Prompt Three: In a society that lacks ritual, especially around death, we decided to center our prompt around this concept. Spend 10 minutes writing about the death, dying and loss-based rituals of an imaginary world.

Fully resourced . . .

MY FAVORITE GRIEF-BASED BOOKS, POEMS, PODCASTS AND MORE.

To note: resources are linked to purchase where possible. While I always recommend shopping local, I also know everyone has different preferences and realities. As such, and for ease, I’ve linked to our affiliate page on amazon.com.

Additional resources worth noting:

Notes on Grief, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

When Women Were Birds and Refuge, Terry Tempest Williams

The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion

The Wild Other, Clover Stroud

H is for Hawk, Helen Macdonald

Crazy Brave, Joy Harjo

Splitting the Difference, Tre Rodriguez Miller

When Breath Becomes Air, Paul Kalanithi

My Lovely Wife in the Psych Ward, Mark Lukach

The Magical Language of Others, E.J. Koh


I would also be silly not to recommend my own work - Unbound and Everything Left to Remember.

Lastly . . . when we spill ink, we love to do it with a Lamy and a Moleskin.

 

If you have questions, comments, or feedback, we warmly welcome you to be in touch via steph@stephjagger.com. We also encourage you, as always, to reach out to your community — therapists, family, friends, support groups — for additional support as you feel it's necessary.

We don’t have another session of Grief on the Page on the calendar at this point. That said, I have a multitude of other offerings that are and will be available including private practice coaching work and editorial and creative mentorship. Please reach out it you’re interested - steph@stephjagger.com

Thank you again for your courage and bravery to sit in the room with yourself, others, and the suite of emotions that is grief.

You have filled me with inspiration and hope for a deepened humanity,

xo Steph