“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: How Do You Know if You’ve Officially Let Go?
Dear Journeyer, “How do you know if you’ve officially let go?” asks one of our neighbors. What a beautiful question. There really is no one right or wrong answer. The simplest answer is that you just know. You feel a sense of peace or resolution from your belly to your bones. Sometimes the heavens open, the angels sing, the doves … Read More
Ask Annah: Why I Stayed Married after My Husband’s Two Affairs
Dear Journeyer, Many people enter a state of disbelief when they learn that I am still married to the man who had two affairs following our wedding vows. And while some just can’t seem to wrap their brains around it, others have appeared flustered or fustrated, while one person wrote a scathing comment that basically described me as the reason … 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
A Gift of Fatherly Love: Guest Post by “MrHeartlight,” Mitch Carmody
Dearest Journeyer, You know that person whose smile is so bright it lights up a room? The kind of person with a warm hug or firm handshake and a laugh that comes from deep within? The person who knows how to pick you up when you need a helping hand to lift you from the floor of devastation or one … Read More
The Reason Grief Feels Eternal
Even though it’s been twenty-seven years since my firstborn’s arrival into this world, I remember how eternal those weeks following his birth were. Like many moms do, I swayed in the rocker at the foot of the crib we’d so lovingly adorned the nursery with. I twisted the dial on the bed chamber’s musical mobile and awaited its soothing melodies. I … Read More
May We All Be
Happy Sunday, Journeyer! For all you Mothers, whether you hold a child in your heart, your dreams, or your arms, Happy Mother’s Day to you! Last week I wrote about about manifesting intention, how I worked on changing my thinking to change my situation. But this past week has been all about creating a state of being, one based on … Read More
And So It Is
Happy Sunday, Journeyer, Some of our greatest thinkers and spiritualist have these or similar sayings, “Your thoughts create your reality,” and “Change your thinking; change your world.” Part of mindfulness meditation is allowing feelings and sensations to move through us without effecting us in harmful or negative ways. One of the ways we create our desired realities is by creating … Read More
What Kind of Mother Has No Child 2017
Dear Journeyer, On May 8, 2015, I wrote this letter to you. I’m re-sharing it now, with a few time-related updates, because I feel it bears repeating again and again, year after year, until it has reached every single mother who has ever experienced the physical death of a child or the death of her Motherhood dream. Please share it with every … Read More
When Happiness is Hard
“Hard times always lead to something great.” ~ Fashion Designer, Betsey Johnson Dear Journeyer, This last week was tough…really tough. After three years of struggle at my other job, I finally faced something that I can’t comprehend. I had two, back-to-back events that ultimately triggered panic attacks. For those of you who have ever endured these physiological symptoms, my heart … Read More