“Friendships are discovered rather than made.” ~ Harriett Beecher Stowe Dear Journeyer, “Why do friendships change after a significant loss?” is a question and conversation I hear regularly from people of all ages and across all loss forms. If you have discovered that your relationships with friends or family feel strange or estranged since a Significant Life Loss Event entered … Read More
Ask Annah: Why Do I Feel Worse 2-3 Years after My Significant Life Loss Event
Dear Journeyer, I am often asked some variation of this question: “It’s been three years since my child/parent/sibling/spouse/best friend died and I feel worse now than I did when it happened. What is wrong with me?” Though this query often references the death of a person, I have also heard it with regard to other forms of loss, including but … Read More
Making Merry, Nice, and the Most of Life through Changing Our Thoughts
“The happiest people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they make the best of everything.” ~ Author Unknown Happy Sunday, Journeyer, You know those expressions about being split wide open or having our hearts swell to the breaking point? Those are the things that happen right before our greatest personal growth moments. They are the loss events that eventually lead … Read More
A Break in the Clouds
Happy Sunday, Journeyer, It has been a rough two weeks, a sort of calm before the storm. Days filled with anxiety and unrecognized fear, two things that when combined are a cocktail for Anger and Frustration and Heartache. Despite abundant sunshine, my days were filled with a thick haze that precedes a storm. My nights interrupted by persistent, yet unusual, lightening … Read More
Healing and the Two Sides of Freedom
As I prepared for my family’s July 4th celebration, I couldn’t help but think about some of the events and threads that comprise our freedom. Our freedom, for all of us who live in countries that afford us the privilege of choosing our own daily course of actions, was born on the backs and of the bloodshed of too many to … Read More
Season of Change
There is little like the color that splashes the Northeast topography in Fall. The foliage is almost at the height of its vibrancy this week, nearly a month early for peak color. This is the glorious view from my office window. I love listening to the gentle breeze and watching the leaves float to the ground. I … Read More