Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims,
This Friday, September 18th, we are pleased to welcome Wisdom Council member and Lift Every Voice Book Club conversation partner Claudia Love Mair to lead us in the retreat Mourning Pages: The Write Way to Grieve.
Below is a note from Claudia Love and an adapted excerpt from her forthcoming book.
Adapted Excerpt
It started with a simple announcement of his death on social media. I met my carefully curated community of creatives, spiritual folks, ride-or-die friends, and family on Facebook. . . . After that, I wrote very little. Those first seventy-two hours were awful on steroids. . . . [Then] the need to tell all seized me. I couldn’t help myself. Words poured out of me like water through a sieve. I wrote because I had to tell my story. My Facebook statuses were a desperate plea for help, whether I asked for help directly or not. The fact is, I couldn’t carry my grief alone. Writing and posting my words drew loving people to me who gave this mourning mama their unwavering support. My online family gathered around me until they formed an unintentional community among themselves.
(Adapted and excerpted with permission from Mourning Pages: A Soulful Guide to Writing Through Grief by Claudia Love Mair. Broadleaf Books, September 22, 2026)
A Note from Claudia Love
My beloveds, my anam caras, soul friends,
I’m so glad you’ve decided to join me to begin writing through grief. We will create mourning pages together, and not only will I guide you in how to do so, I’ll tell you how expressive writing has been proven to be effective in a variety of ways. I’m so excited for this opportunity to be together.
I began doing my own grief writing when my son Lumumba suddenly died of an overdose. My loves, it still hurts to write those words, even five years later, and I am sad to say my mama died only weeks ago, so I will have my journal and colored pens with me to write my heart out through the pain with you.
Be prepared to take some deep breaths, to write, to do some therapeutic exercises to stay grounded, and say some breath prayers to keep connected to the Divine, and/or your own broken heart. Writing mourning pages is healing over time, and we will begin to heal together.
I can’t wait. I need this. Maybe you do too.
I love you.
Claudia Love
If you are grieving a loved one—whether their death was recent, years, or decades ago—please consider joining us Friday in intentional community for a generative experience that offers guidance on how to express grief over the death of a beloved through writing.
With great and growing love,
Christine
Christine Valters Paintner, OblSB, PhD, REACE
Image: Paid license with Canva
