Stages of Grief
Scrapbook Journal

I will soon be adding a whole section on the stages of grief to this site, but until then I wanted to add this page on scrapbook journaling through the stages.

There are several different models for looking at the grief stages and, of course, every grief journey is different. Some people go through the stages in a different order. Some stay long in one stage and briefly in another. Different aspects of your life and grief situation also make the stages feel different and unique to who you are. You are the one most capable of understanding your own story and grief process.

Word List:

Here are a list of words commonly associated with the different models for the stages of grief:

shock,
numbness,
denial,
pain,
yearning,
guilt,
anger,
emotional
despair,
bargaining,
depression,
sadness,
withdrawal,
reflection,
loneliness,
reorganization,
the upward turn,
reconstruction,
working through,
acceptance,
letting go,
moving on,
hope.

Yes, I know it is an extremely long list, but I hope that this long list of possibilities will help you pick out a few to name some of your own personal stages of grief.

The Journal Exercise:

1. Look at the list of words. Find the one that you feel drawn to reflect on today.

2. Remember a time in your journey when you experienced this emotion. In your imagination, put yourself back in that scene. What do you see, hear, smell, feel? Notice what is happening in your body.

3. Write some words, sentences, or paragraphs to give words to the experience of this emotion.

4. Now reflect back on the experience from where you are today. What meaning do you find in your experience? How did you find strength to move through this experience? What invitations might you find in your life today because of this experience?

5. Again write some words, sentences, or paragraphs to give words to these reflections.

6. Think about images that would metaphorically tell something of your experience. Do you have photos or can you make some photos that might reflect your story? Can you draw/paint it? Look through magazines or search your word on www.flickr.com for ideas.

7. Create a scrapbook journal page to reflect your story and reflection.

On another day, choose another word to work with. In the end you will have a group of pages that reflect your own personal stages of grief. Grief is not a passive experience that we can easily get over. Grief is something we must work and live our way through. Most importantly you need to give yourself the gift of time to heal and reflect.

Return to grief journaling main page.

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