How's Your Heart?

Today a dear friend asked me; “How’s your heart?”
Such a simple yet poignant question during the fog of grief and loss.
I answered, “heavy but light.” Thinking about my heart stirred lots of emotion for me because I KNOW grief all too well...the loss of someone who has lived a full 91 years of life brings mixed feelings of beautiful joyful memories, and also feel like something is missing...heavy and light.
However, I have to say that it’s in times of grief where I have really learned what it feels like to surrender into all my feelings and to truly love and nurture myself on a deeper level.
Through grief and loss I have gotten to appreciate my strength and my depth of love. The pain has opened and expanded my heart to an understanding compassion I never knew before.
Grief and loss are more prevalent in our lives than we acknowledge:
With change, comes loss, comes grief.
Be gentle with your heart as it’s open and vulnerable. Nurture yourself.
Cherish your emotions. Talk about memories. Well-up whenever you need to. Have the courage to feel all that you need to feel. This is how you become stronger and understand love through loss.