Permission to Grieve Quotes

“Grief is not fixable, curable, or preventable. It is not a “condition” or pathology.”
― Shelby Forsythia, Permission to Grieve: Creating Grace, Space, & Room to Breathe in the Aftermath of Loss

“When we refuse ourselves permission to grieve, we shut off a vital piece of our hearts that needs seeing, expressing, and loving: a wounded child, a raging wolf, an injured spirit.

When we give ourselves permission to grieve, we embrace the child. We release the wolf. We heal the spirit. We run towards what scares us most only to find that “it” is ourselves... and it’s not so much scary as is it is afraid. And we don’t want the fear to go away as much as we want the fear to be seen, heard, and wholeheartedly loved.”
― Shelby Forsythia, Permission to Grieve: Creating Grace, Space, & Room to Breathe in the Aftermath of Loss

“No matter what society, movies, or the nightly news would like you to believe, there is no finite ending to grief.”
― Shelby Forsythia, Permission to Grieve: Creating Grace, Space, & Room to Breathe in the Aftermath of Loss

“Grief does not want to force itself into a life, a body, or an identity it has outgrown. Grief does not want to take shelter in a new life, a new body, or a new identity it is not ready to call home.

Grief wants to be given time, space, and support in the in-between. It wants to be given room to help you decide who you are in the aftermath of loss without the pressure to decide RIGHT NOW.”
― Shelby Forsythia, Permission to Grieve: Creating Grace, Space, & Room to Breathe in the Aftermath of Loss

“Asking our emotions to stay predictable, easy, and flat in grief is like asking the ocean to be a smooth, glassy, back- yard pool. It’s just not possible. Can you imagine an ocean that didn’t roar and crash into the shore? It wouldn’t be an ocean, would it? We allow our humanness in grief by giving ourselves permission to experience our feelings in their fullness as they surface.”
― Shelby Forsythia, Permission to Grieve: Creating Grace, Space, & Room to Breathe in the Aftermath of Loss

“I stood laughing in the kitchen because for the first time since my mom had died, I saw my whole self in my grief. I embraced her and let her be what she was. I didn’t reject her life, and I didn’t reject her in mine. I allowed her to show up as the messy, heartbroken, rage-filled nut that she was...and I loved her. I was delighted by her and humored by her and honored to be in her powerful, awesome presence.”
― Shelby Forsythia, Permission to Grieve: Creating Grace, Space, & Room to Breathe in the Aftermath of Loss

“When we’re grieving, we’re consciously or unconsciously walling ourselves into expectations, false stories, and myths.”
― Shelby Forsythia, Permission to Grieve: Creating Grace, Space, & Room to Breathe in the Aftermath of Loss

“Permission is the way back to ourselves after we’ve rejected our lives and abandoned ourselves.”
― Shelby Forsythia, Permission to Grieve: Creating Grace, Space, & Room to Breathe in the Aftermath of Loss

“Life is linear until it isn’t.”
― Shelby Forsythia, Permission to Grieve: Creating Grace, Space, & Room to Breathe in the Aftermath of Loss

“Grief is a normal, natural human experience.”
― Shelby Forsythia, Permission to Grieve: Creating Grace, Space, & Room to Breathe in the Aftermath of Loss