466 books
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327 voters
“The Gift of Presence, the Perils of Advice,” author and educator Parker Palmer writes, “The human soul doesn’t want to be advised or fixed or saved. It simply wants to be witnessed—to be seen, heard, and companioned exactly as it is. When we make that kind of deep bow to the soul of a suffering person, our respect reinforces the soul’s healing resources, the only resources that can help the sufferer make it through.”1 We”
― It's OK That You're Not OK: Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture That Doesn't Understand
― It's OK That You're Not OK: Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture That Doesn't Understand
“The whole idea of getting better—or even integrating your loss—can feel offensive, especially in early grief. Getting better might mean that the person you lost, or the life you no longer get to live, isn’t as important anymore.”
― It's OK That You're Not OK: Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture That Doesn't Understand
― It's OK That You're Not OK: Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture That Doesn't Understand
“It’s kind of a dorky statement, but it is true that grief rearranges your address book. It’s amazing how many people drop out of your life in the wake of catastrophic loss. People who have been with you through thick and thin suddenly disappear, or turn dismissive, shaming, strange. Random strangers become your biggest, deepest source of comfort, if even only for a few moments.”
― It's OK That You're Not OK: Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture That Doesn't Understand
― It's OK That You're Not OK: Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture That Doesn't Understand
“Think of it like this: your grieving person spoke a language that only one other person in the world spoke, and that person died. It’s tempting to ask the grieving person to teach you that language so that you can speak it to them. No matter how much you want to speak to them, to give them back what they’ve lost, they can’t teach you the language. Coming out of their pain to teach you syntax and grammar and vocabulary so that they can then return to their mute state is simply impossible. They cannot do it. They cannot access that part of their mind that forms lessons and offers feedback.”
― It's OK That You're Not OK: Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture That Doesn't Understand
― It's OK That You're Not OK: Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture That Doesn't Understand
“You are alone in your grief. You alone carry the knowledge of how your grief lives in you. You alone know all the details, the subtlety and nuance of what’s happened and what’s been lost. You alone know how deeply your life has been changed. You alone have to face this, inside your own heart. No one can do this with you.”
― It's OK That You're Not OK: Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture That Doesn't Understand
― It's OK That You're Not OK: Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture That Doesn't Understand
Irina’s 2025 Year in Books
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