Conversations about Love & Loss

Experiences of love leave enduring marks on our lives. With love, eventually comes loss. That’s what makes it all the sweeter; the gross impermanence of life. A great feeling is difficult to express, so we mostly don’t to the fullest extent of our emotions. Or we feel there is perhaps a time limit on when to speak about those moments of great feelings. But talking about the grit is important to our stories. Questions that surround loss and love are the building blocks of our legacy. They shape us as humans. We are building our own biographies every day. That’s where Legacy Recorder comes in.

Getting the Conversation Rolling

The most simple and important step is to be present in our everyday lives. I have gone over the topic of checking in with intention in a previous blog. By building on that, we can begin to have conversations about the deep stuff. Love wears many faces. Some are obvious like those between spouses, parents and children, and family members, but there’s also love shared within communities, among friends, mentors, and coworkers. 

• Practice writing letters/notes about a time when you remember feeling love or grief
• Use those letters are starting points for conversations 

Taking the time to access to our own thoughts is an important step to connecting to someone else’s. When speaking to someone about a loss in their lives, it’s important to consider time frames. When someone has experienced a loss recently in their life, it’s not necessarily a good time to talk deeply about feelings until there has been time to process. This is when we can simply be present with those going through life-changing or shattering events.  After some time has passed, guided reflection can be helpful to work through grief. 

The importance of discussing love and loss with those around you is of the utmost importance. The depth of our connection to others can be strengthed by taking the time to have a conversation about

• how we have made them feel,
• how they have made us feel,
• and what that means to our everyday lives.

Though we cannot ask questions to those who are no longer with us, we can begin to write down the moments that we cherish and carry with us as we navigate our own stories.

Resource

The Good Grief app is a social network for those dealing with loss. You can tailor-make a profile pertaining to your own private grief, then search for those who may be experiencing something similar, without having to be in the same location.