Posts from July 2022

What is the HOPE Connection New Beginnings Group?

New Beginnings is a group for ongoing support as a place of growth… from grief to growth.

Think back to your time when your spouse died. Imagine seeing your life as if you were sitting in the first row of a movie theatre. It’s too big — you can’t see everything at once. Then after four months, you move from Group 1 to Group 2. Now, imagine moving back five rows in the movie theatre. Your life still looms large on the screen but not quite as large.

Broken Heart? Or Broken Brain?

July 19, 2022
HOPE Connection
Grief

When your spouse or long-term partner dies, everyone knows what you mean when you say you’re heartbroken. But as you grieve you quickly learn there’s a lot more going on than simply feeling sad or depressed. In fact, the intricacies and complexities of grief can be absolutely baffling. That’s because many aspects of grief are actually controlled by the brain.

Watch this short video for an overview of the physiological and neurological reactions of your brain and body to the process of grieving.

Healing Little By Little

Shortly after my husband died, I woke to the sound of a garbage truck coming down my street on its routine early morning pickup. I usually dislike those noisy garbage trucks grinding away as they slam trash cans around, but now a sense of comfort washed over me. How strange, I thought, that such an ordinary thing helps me regain a sense of normality. My connection to the outside world was momentarily restored. I began to welcome trash days knowing that for a few moments, I would relax – something that had eluded me in those first months of grief. It was a small sense of relief, but with a noticeable impact.