19/05/2023
Every now and then one of my drawings starts getting shared lots of times again and I’m not always sure why. Currently this one is being shared hundreds of time, which is probably no surprise as Grief has touched so many of us in the last few years and nearly all of us without fail will be touched by grief during our lives.
There are many models of grief. This one by Tonkin, 2009, describes that grief stays with us rather than diminishing, and we grow around the grief. We may still operate within grief at times, but increasingly we will be able to experience the life that grows around the grief and live in these circles as well.
Like all models, this is just one description of grief and it will not resonate with everyone. However some people find this model helpful when thinking about grief. If it doesn’t apply to you, this doesn’t mean you are doing anything wrong. There is no one way to experience grief and experiences of grief differ in different people.
Grief can also be thought of a wider concept… we can grieve for people, but we can also grieve for lives we thought we were going to have, for loss of parts of our lives or loss of parts of ourselves.
Like all my images, these grow from my clinical work and day to day experiences and conversations I have. For this image I have to also thank for the seed of this idea when she interviewed me at .
For more info on grief I recommend who have podcasts, books and/ or social media pages focusing on grief.
For children and young people and books and .martha.psychologist posts on talking to children about loss.
Do please feel free to share any other recommendations that have helped you for others in this community.
P.s. sorry for the faint font on the hearts…. I keep meaning to redraw it so it is more legible. Starting with the first enveloped tear (second right) it reads hope, connections, meaning and purpose, joy and happiness and love- these are all things that you told me helped you grow round grief when I was developed this image.