The Portland Grief House

Wednesday, November 1st

4:00 PM

Grieving in Community: Let Your Grief Be Held A Seasonal Grief Ritual

Grief doesn’t only arrive with death. It lives in the quiet disappointments, the identity shifts, the relationships that ended before we were ready. It shows up in the holidays, in family gatherings, in cultural traditions like Día de los Muertos — and in the parts of us that long for what once was or never got to be.

But the world we live in doesn’t leave much space for grief. It rushes us past it. Tells us to get over it. Makes it something to hide.

This ritual is the opposite of that.

You’re invited to join me for an intimate grief ritual designed to help you express, process, and release grief — in all its forms. Whether your grief is fresh, inherited, quiet, or loud, this space welcomes it. You do not need to explain it or justify it. You don’t even need to put words to it.

Together, we will:

Begin with a gentle arrival and seasonal framing of why this time of year stirs so much

Create a simple, guided art piece to give shape to what’s been unspoken

Gather in circle to witness and be witnessed in our grief

Engage in a symbolic release — returning what we’ve been carrying to the earth in a nature-based offering

Close with reflection and integration, so no one leaves feeling alone

Please bring one small item (photo, object, flower, etc.) for our shared altar, something that holds meaning for your grief. It will be returned to you at the end of the ritual.

This is not therapy. It is a sacred space. Come as you are — raw, uncertain, quiet, tender, numb, open. There is room for you here.