Supporting and promoting the well-being of mental health carers and their families.
Mental Health Carers Austalia.
17-06-2016 09:25 AM
17-06-2016 09:25 AM
Hi @Former-Member .......... 🌸
I hope you did get up and light that candle for your girl.
This is not coming from any medical training ...... this is just my thought ........ so I hope it's helpful to you in some way .......
It sounds to me like you have experienced a grief response, that your mind and heart are trying to process that moment, and it is so deeply buried while you are awake, your body took a moment when you were asleep to just touch on that point of extreme pain and release just a drop of it ....... but even that drop was so concentrate it spun you out .......
Please be very gentle on yourself today. Engage in all your self-care strategies, and keep Claypan close by you ..... I am sure he will be able to sense your distress and will want to be there to comfort you.
There may be more you can do in tiny ways that can help this pain ruse to the surface and dissipate in less confronting ways ........ such as lighting a candle more often ........ drawing together more special items that remind you of her, and putting them into a special compntainer like a beautiful basket in a bit if a display somewhere in your home, so you can come and touch the objects sometimes, and leave little gifts by thenpm, like flowers you have picked, or a symbol of your faith.
Grief is a long-term thing, as far as I can understand, and as we are walking with it for a long period of time, it's best that we give it some voluntary space in our lives, so it is less likely to break through in involuntary ways, at least not quite so powerfully ....... but not so much space that we can't move past it to focus on living.
The Greek people retain a lot of ritual around the passing of their loved ones, and mark the dates as an anniversary with church attendance, the lighting of candles, the making of a special memory-cake that is shared out amongst friends and family, they wear black clothes for the day ........ it is a celebration of life rather than death ..... it is a holding in memory a special person, and the time that was spent together, as a blessing and special, so special, for what it was.
I hope this brings you some sort of comfort @Former-Member. On my mother's "special days", including the day of her passing, I make her Date and Almond Loaf recipe and share it with anybody who is around. I cook a dinner dish from one of her recipes. I buy her flowers and put them in a vase by her picture, and light a candle. I do physical things to hold her in memory and celebrate her life. It is a way of allowing the pain it's place to exist, and the opportunity to translate into other special emotions, like appreciation for the time we did have together. It's a way of sharing her with others, whether they knew her or not.
Big hugs @Former-Member. 💗🌸💐
Talk to us about your girl on the days that you can, so we can know her through you, and on the days that you can't, know that we are also carrying these special notes of memory around with us too.
I will light a candle for your girl, and pick flowers for her too.
"May her memory be eternal ❣"
17-06-2016 11:32 AM
17-06-2016 11:32 AM
17-06-2016 12:00 PM
17-06-2016 12:00 PM
I married a Greek @Former-Member ....... and yes ........ the "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" scenario is so close to the truth it is a firm family favourite around here, and still brings us to fitful tears of laughter !!
And yes, the Greek culture is an ancient one, and together with the Orthodox faith, has some very practical and compassionate practices well ingrained in social (what I call) intra-dependence as a community, spreading from the nuclear family outwards ....... that doesn't mean they get it right all the time, but they can also be very gentle and forgiving about getting it wrong - like - it's okay to get things wrong too - it's all part of the crazy mix of life, and loving, and losing, and carrying forward.
Its not exclusive to the Greek culture either. I am several generations Australian in one side of the family, and a couple of generations Austalian on the other side, from essentially a Celtic-Brit ancestry, like so many others here, but I see echoes across all cultures of some version of this outlook ..... and some cultures have lost their connections a bit, and here we have become such a blend of cultures - in that sense we are still quite young as a nation. We need to dig deep into the resources of the cultural inheritances that have landed on these shores, or were in existence long before as for our First People, and find the commonality of our human-ness and that thread of common experience ......... we need to help each other to stand, not try to be the strongest one standing. We can all stand strong together ....... 🌷
There, that's my little soap-box bit for the day ...... 😊
Thanks for the recipe @Former-Member. I am going to make a seafood version of that for dinner. Sounds yum ❣
17-06-2016 09:49 PM
17-06-2016 09:49 PM
Hi @Former-Member,
Similar to @Faith-and-Hope, I think the 'body knows', and occasionaly it will bring pains and emotions to the surface, sometimes through dreams, other times through illness. Grief, as painful and tormenting as it seems, is an important process. It reminds us that we loved, that we cared, and what we had was important. Grief lets us know that what we had was something special, something divine. Something not easy to let go of.
I'm not sure if grief ever goes away. The loss of your little girl will remain, but as @Faith-and-Hope reminds us, we can make voluntary space for the loss, during anniversaries, or even just giving yourself a day or two after a dream that reminds you of them to reflect on your time together. Allow yourself to grief, to feel sad, to think about them, the lesson you learned from the relationship, and most of all cry. I promise you that while you will still miss her, it will get easier. Grief's tight grasp will loosen.
Surrounding yourself with people who can support you through your grief is important. Perhaps they'll be times where just want a friend who can hang out with you and talk small talk. Maybe other times, it will be other family members who can reminisce on good times of your daughter. Be careful of those who (usually unitentionally) are not supportive. Nuture yourself with supportive company.
Hugs to you,
CB
19-06-2016 08:15 AM
19-06-2016 08:15 AM
19-06-2016 08:19 AM
19-06-2016 08:19 AM
That could have been written for me @Former-Member. Well written.😊💜
19-06-2016 09:34 AM
19-06-2016 09:34 AM
Good for you @Former-Member ❣
And as @Former-Member says, encouragement to others in the same boat ....... 🚣
20-06-2016 12:57 PM
20-06-2016 12:57 PM
20-06-2016 01:06 PM
20-06-2016 01:06 PM
20-06-2016 01:23 PM
20-06-2016 01:23 PM
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Supporting and promoting the well-being of mental health carers and their families.
Mental Health Carers Austalia.
Our Mission
To be the voice of mental health carers to enable the best life possible.
Get In Touch With Us
We're here to support and promote the well-being of mental health carers and their families
Mental Health Carers Australia is the only national advocacy group solely concerned with the well-being and promotion of the needs of mental health carers.
Supporting and promoting the well-being of mental health carers and their families.
Mental Health Carers Austalia.
Our Mission
To be the voice of mental health carers to enable the best life possible.
Get In Touch With Us
We're here to support and promote the well-being of mental health carers and their families
Mental Health Carers Australia is the only national advocacy group solely concerned with the well-being and promotion of the needs of mental health carers.