Being an insider and outsider through the pain of loss

Being introduced to Alan Wolfelt's concept of companionship to bereavement has changed the way I coach, counsel, be present with those who are grieving. I had the magnificent gift of visiting someone who was in the midst of her transition yesterday. I held a space as family streamed in and out of the room. I was able to witness the raw emotions of pain and loss without attachment. Through conversations with family members, I was gifted with different life-remembering experiences of her as a child, an adult, a parent, a grandparent. The openness, strength of heart of these stories was part of a great healing. At the end of my stay, I felt like I had an insider point of view while remaining on the outside. It was beautiful really. Today, I affirm my loving to the world. I am grateful to be on this path of work. Sometimes, when I think I ought to be farther along, doing more, moments like these remind me to take a breathe and just come into the present, to feel the life force of spirit and be in awe, again of the fragility of these glimpses of passing through from one portal into the next.