Grief-Crafting
For the past couple of years I have been gestating a piece of work which is very dear to my own heart, very meaningful to me, and which I am deeply passionate about. This work has a name and is in it’s fledgling state, peaking it’s head out of the downy nest of my heart ready to launch into the world and fly. I call this aspect of my work ‘Grief-Crafting’, and in it’s current format it is a one-to-one process where I sit with a person for around 4 hours offering them deep listening and witnessing of their griefs, through creating a space to craft, to feel, to reflect, and to gather this into a process to support ourselves in our grief through working with our hands. Our ancestors would have worked with yarn and plant fibres and I know that passed down through the generations in my DNA, my hands remember this. The fibres are working me as much as I am working them.
We create a small altar or focal point with items you bring with you to signify your griefs, for you to name and focus your intent on them, and then I lead you gently into creating a needle-felted Grief Bundle, nestled in either wool or plant fibre, into which you can place dried plant kin, feathers, drops of oil, flower remedies, strands of your hair, perhaps some of your tears, and anything else that is meaningful and supportive to you.
We create a sacredly held space for you to craft as you explore and express your griefs. The creative process itself may bring up clues about where a person is at, and the challenges they are currently facing, and we explore this within the context of their own personal beliefs and philosophy. The Grief Bundle may take on a particular shape, which is part of the evolving process. The intention is to be with whatever arises, rather than being fixed upon creating a specific shape or item. Often an egg-shape appears, or perhaps a heart, or an item of no particular shape reference. All is part of the process, and is an invitation to surrender, to let the wool speak through our hands.
Once the Grief Bundle is formed it can then be embellished and decorated in a meaningful way, allowing full reign of your creative process. The Grief Bundle is yours to take with you as a focus item for your ongoing journey with your griefs.
We can explore and honour any and many types of grief, which may include (but not be limited to):
* baby-loss at any stage of pregnancy (miscarriage, termination for medical reasons, abortion, still-birth)
* bereavement of beloved humans or animal companions
* breakdown of relationships
* loss of job/career through redundancy, retirement, or ill-health, changes of circumstances
* grief for injustices & prejudices against specific groups of people
* grief for damage to our environment
* marking milestones in our life-cycles such as empty-nesting when beloveds leave home, or releasing our bleeding years, becoming an elder within our own families/friendship groups.
Any grief is welcome and valid.
I feel there is a real need for this ‘being alongside’ process, to be busy with our hands so that our hearts are free to express themselves. I am very much still percolating on this & intend that it will continue to evolve organically over time.
Sessions will usually run on weekday afternoons, and will last 4 hours in total, but please allow some flexibility around this to ensure that you feel sufficiently held, and well resourced to resume everyday life.
Be sure to allow yourself some integration time and space after your Grief-Crafting experience, to rest and allow for all you are processing. It is an important part of the wider experience to allow your physical body, as well as your emotional, mental and spiritual energies, some time & space to settle. Be sure to drink plenty of water too!
To book an in-person 1:1 Grief-Crafting session please contact me on 07752 899288. Exchange for this 4 hour deep-holding & witnessing experience will be £60 initially, including all crafting materials. This is a reduced exchange initially while I beta test my process, after that it will be more representative of my unique skills, time and energy involved.
