Making Room for New Love after Loss: Hope, Healing, and Resources

And think not that you can direct the course of love, for love, if it's worthy, directs your course.  ~ Khalil Gibran

A reader writes: I have insight into my growth through grief these past 2 years. At first it was a tight shell around me, I couldn't let anyone in. Now it's a softer cocoon. I empathize with newly bereaved in a way I never got before. I sit, I'm patient, I listen.

I feel room in my heart for a new life partner while maintaining my connection with my deceased husband. How did I get here? I met a guy, a widower, he gets it! He gets me. I get him. It's new, I'm hopeful. I miss my deceased husband daily and I'm "in like" with a new man. I have room in my heart yet it feels awkward -- and hopeful.

Voices of Experience: The Jury Has Made A Decision

As long as we continue to live as if we are what we do, what we have, and what other people think about us, we will remain filled with judgments, opinions, evaluations, and condemnations. We will remain addicted to putting people and things in their "right" place.  ~ Henri J.M. Nouwen

Kelley Lynn is a writer, comedian, actor, and speaker. Since she was widowed suddenly in 2011 at age 39, she has made it her mission ~ through her writing, comedy, and speaking engagements ~ to change the conversation surrounding grief and loss. Her popular TEDx talk, When Someone You Love Dies, There is No Such Thing as Moving On, has 90,000 views and counting. Here she writes of the challenges of navigating widowhood in a culture that is often insensitive, judgmental and all too willing to offer unsolicited advice.

As a widowed person, I sometimes feel as if I've been convicted of something.

Perhaps I did something wrong, and I just don't remember.

Understanding and Managing Grief, January 7 - January 13, 2018

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

When Grief Goes From Just Plain Miserable to Problematic, http://j.mp/2ECNBeh « What's Your Grief

23 Humans On What They Wish The World Understood About Grief, http://j.mp/2EywDxs « HuffPost

When Grief Gets Complicated, http://j.mp/2FjaRPj « Psychology Today

Understanding and Managing Grief, January 31 - February 6, 2016

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Grief is physical. http://j.mp/1PZRyYc « lifewithoutjudgment

Modern Loss' Grief Reads, http://j.mp/23PGY0h « Modern Loss

Adam Ruins Everything: How Funerals Completely Rip Us Off, http://j.mp/1St1hNA « SevenPonds Blog

In Grief: Finding New Love After The Death of A Spouse

A reader writes: I have insight into my growth through grief these past 2 years. At first it was a tight shell around me, I couldn't let anyone in. Now it's a softer cocoon. I empathize with newly bereaved in a way I never got before. I sit, I'm patient, I listen.

I feel room in my heart for a new life partner while maintaining my connection with my deceased husband. How did I get here? I met a guy, a widower, he gets it! He gets me. I get him. It's new, I'm hopeful. I miss my deceased husband daily and I'm "in like" with a new man. I have room in my heart yet it feels awkward -- and hopeful.

Marty, do you have resources on new love after bereavement? Your articles are always on target. Thanks, truly.  Read on here >>>