You are receiving this email from Sharon Barnes & The Academy of Creative Living because you purchased a product/service or subscribed in person or on our website. To ensure that you continue to receive emails from us, add Sharon@AcademyofCreativeLiving.com to your address book today. If you haven't done so already, click to confirm your interest in receiving email campaigns from us.
 
You may unsubscribe if you no longer wish to receive our emails.
ACL Logo
LifeCraft News
from the Academy of Creative Living
December 19, 2006

Greetings!

Welcome to LifeCraftNews! And an extra warm welcome to all our new subscribers. We are glad you have joined us. The LifeCraft News email newsletter brings you

  • Tips to help you thrive, not just strive.
  • Tools to manage your stress and balance your life.
  • Training in how to increase your personal power.
  • Techniques to transform your pain into gain.
  • Touches of inspiration to release your creative imagination
  • Creative Quotes to transform your day
  • Support to Craft a Life You'll LOVE to live.
As Featured On Best Ezines The LifeCraft News is featured on Best Ezines.com. It is the Email Newsletter Review and Awards Site.

We hope you enjoy what you find here. If you do, please go to Best Ezines and put your rating and review there.

Ten Ways to Cope With Holiday Grief
 distressed young woman Many people who have experienced a recent loss are surprised that it hits them especially hard during the holidays. Unfortunately, it is a very common experience for those who are dealing with a loss. In fact, according to research done with diaries of American pioneers, it is not unusual for grief to re- surface (again and again) many years after the loss. What these diaries revealed was that it came less often as the months and years went by, but when it came, it was often as intense as in the beginning.

My mailbox this week included wisdom from L.B. Schultz, quoted in Seasons of Grief,/ a monthly publication from Porter Hospice and Hospice of Peace. It was originally published in Living With Loss Magazine. It is so good that I called and got permission to share it with you.

Here's the Ten Ways to Cope with Holiday Grief
 Christmas Candle Ring
  1. Plan ahead as to where and how you will spend your time during the holidays. Let yourself scale back on activities if you want to. Redefine your holiday expectations. This can be a transition year to begin new traditions and let others go.
  2. Select a candle in your loved one's favorite color and scent. Place it in a special area of your home and light it at significant times throughout the holidays, signifying the light of the love that lives on in your heart.
  3. Give yourself permission to express your feelings. If you feel an urge to cry, let the tears flow. They are healing. Scientists have discovered that certain brain chemicals in our tears are natural pain relievers.
  4. Shakespeare once said, "Give sorrow words..." Write an "un-sent letter" to your loved one expressing what you are honestly feeling toward him or her at this moment. After you complete the letter, you may decide to place it in a book, album or drawer in your home, leave it at the memorial site, throw it away, or even burn it and let the ashes rise symbolically.
  5. When you are especially missing your loved one, call family members or dear friends and share your feelings. If they knew her/him, consider asking them to share some memories of times they shared.
  6. If you live within driving distance of the cemetery, decorate the memorial site with a holiday theme. This could include flowers, garlands, ribbons, bows, evergreen branches, packages, pine cones or a miniature Christmas tree. Decorating the site yourself can be helpful in remembering and celebrating your loved one's life during the holidays. I find when I take time during the holiday season to remember my father's memorial place, my heart feels freer to cherish the precious present holiday with my remaining family.
  7. Play music that is comforting and meaningful to you. Take a few minutes to close your eyes and feel the music within the center of your being.
  8. Give money you would have spent for gifts for your absent loved one to a charity in your family member's name. Consider donating money tot he public library to buy a particular book. Have the book dedicated to your loved one's memory. Buy a present for a child who would not otherwise have a gift during the holiday season.
  9. Read a book or article on grief. Some suggestions: Don't Take My Grief Away From Me by Doug Manning; The Comfort Book For Those Who Mourn, compiled by Anna Trimiew; and A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis.
  10. Remember the reality that the anticipation of the holidays without your family member is often harder than the actual holidays themselves.

L.B. Schultz, Ten Ways to Cope With Holiday Grief, Nov/Dec 2000. Reprinted with permission from Bereavement Publications, Inc., Bereavement Magazine, Living With Loss Magazine. 1-888-604- 4673. www.livingwithl oss.com

For more Holiday Tips, see Sharon’s Holiday Stress Blog: “Tips for staying balanced through the holidays”. She also invites you to add your own favorites. You’ll find it at Academyof CreativeLiving.com It includes posts from (my brother) Glenn Sackett, chaplain at Porter Adventist Hospital, and more than a dozen other people. All it lacks now is YOUR addition! We'd love for you to share with us what helps you during the holiday season.

If you find this helpful, please forward it on to a friend. And have a blessed holiday season.


Sharon M. Barnes, MSSW, LCSW -- The Scrap Lady!
The Academy of Creative Living
phone: 303-987-0346
Email Marketing by