Grief, like most life changing experiences, teaches us something. Fully realizing that people I love will one day die and that “those sort of things” do NOT only happen to other people drove home the fact that to live well means to live more fearlessly and to fear less. Forever grateful to Lisa McDonald and her company…
I tell my grief story so that others will be more comfortable in telling theirs. Many thanks to Becky at The Death Dialogues Project for giving me the opportunity to share my story, laugh a little and speak candidly about why we need to collectively move forward in our understanding of loss, grief and new…
3 is a magic number aka the rule of three: If you’re stuck or having a hard time getting started on that long and maybe overwhelming to do list and you do three things or perform three actions, no matter how small, you create enough momentum to move forward on whatever it is you wish…
For all you Warrior Women and Warriors in general, another brilliant (updated) quote from Theodore Roosevelt. The Woman in the Arena It is not the critic who counts; not the woman who points out how the strong woman stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the…
In today’s blog I am chatting with Jules Hare, Author of Raise Future Leaders: 3 Simple Steps to Transformational Parenting. Heike: Hello Jules. Thanks for taking the time to virtually chat about your new book “Raise Future Leaders: 3 Simple Steps to Transformational Parenting”. The topic of raising future leaders is all the more important…
Some days still feel overwhelming. But, I know we are all adapting beautifully. And, yes, I know we are finding our way. I know this because when I look at pieces I wrote some months back I can see how far we have all, collectively, come. This doesn’t mean that we aren’t still at times…
Shi(f)t Happens One day, out of nowhere, this thought came to me. If it was possible for my life to become chaotic in an instant, then it is also possible that my life could become lighter again in an instant. Why not? It was an unexpected piece of bad news that took me down that…
Widow Wednesdays Welcome to Widow(er) Wednesdays. A new way for me to share what worked, what didn’t work and what could work better. Fight to be and Stay Inspired In the midst of all the pain and confusion that follows when we lose someone we love it is hard to remember that life can also…
When we stop fighting the inevitable, we release energy which enables us to a create richer life. ~Elsie MacCormick~
This article is a collaboration between Heike Mertins, author of “Grief is…” and Linda Stuart, creator of memorable ceremonies. Instinctively we come together when death happens. The need to be comforted and the need to offer comfort is part of what it means to be human. It gives those most greatly affected by the loss…
It was a long time ago, when I was a young woman. The first time we went out I did not know he was a hunter. I was your typical naïve Bambi loving urbanite. I was not looking to date a hunter. Yet, regardless of the fact that he hunted, I liked this young man….
Cleaning off my dying laptop I came across this piece. I wrote it at least 7 years ago as my niece is turning 15 and I refer to her as being 7. I have no recollection of writing it. The odd things loss will do to a brain. Though I wrote it as…