Tis the season for raw emotion. This year, we unexpectedly lost a member of our family. We added another empty chair to the table. This loss brings a heightened awareness to the other empty chairs at the table this year. My mother, my father, my mother-in-law, my father-in-law. To really poke at the rawness, we attended a funeral this week for an elder mentor and friend. Why does all this loss seem to be a bigger shadow during the holidays?

It’s recent. The hurt is still very new. The heart-ache is still fresh.

Our schedules slow down enough that we have few distractions giving us time to be still in our #grief. Sometimes even in our busyness of the season we simply feel the feelings and are forced to take a breath, and let the “leaking” happen. We cry, remember, cherish in our heart, and keep moving forward.

There’s really nothing I can share here to make it better for my reader who is in the midst of navigating a new path, other than, I’ll come sit with you (even if only virtually) and we’ll feel the feelings together.

One thing I’ve learned in the multiple funerals I’ve attended over several years, our #journey on this earth, in our physical existence is about community. Living, doing life with, laughing and crying with a community of people – some will be family by blood, others are family by choice. We’re in this together. We were created for community.

My other thought is in the spiritual. When the soul leaves and we are left with only the vessel it lived in, where does the soul go? Whatever your answer to this question, are you 100% sure? Of all the questions you answer in life, this one has eternal consequences. And makes a huge difference in how we navigate life.

If I’ve stirred some questions, message me, I’ll be glad to have a conversation with you. If you’ve read more than a few of my posts, you know what I believe.

In the meantime, for those who have more empty chairs this year, please know that there is a community around you sitting in grief, feeling the feelings.

All the best,

KK