Grief, despair, anger, fear and anxiety are all sensations and feelings that arise in our bodies in response to the extraction, domination and violence we experience and witness under colonial capitalism and the oppressive forces that uphold it. All of these feelings are very normal, healthy responses to a global crisis that is threatening life as we know it. Your feelings deserve to be honored and held in reverence as they indicate our inherent interconnectedness. 

Those who are conscious of and willing to face what's happening in the world often feel pain in their bodies and despair deep in their hearts. Without proper support, these feelings can easily overwhelm the nervous system and trigger survival responses such as numbing, dissociation, depression, hyperactivity, and can lead to maladaptive coping strategies such as substance abuse and other addictive behaviors (ie. binge watching tv, doom scrolling, shopping, over-working, anything to distract). 

Group support in the ongoing process of grieving ecological losses and devastation is a critical component in our ability to adapt and strengthen our resiliency in times of such uncertainty and change. As Sarah de la Fuente writes: 

"Lament is an ancient ritual. It can be done individually, but more realistically, it is a communal expression of grief and sadness. Laments are often artistic: poems, songs and even visual representations meant to offload our anxiety, uncertainty, and loss... Laments are not meant to provide answers, nor be a pick-me-up. Instead, they operate out of an assumption that we cannot move forward until we acknowledge where we are now. We cannot dare to hope or dream and live again until we mourn. We cannot calibrate our anxiety until we acknowledge it in all its complexity. Community lament grounds us and binds us together even as we unravel."

Connection is the antidote to alienation and feeling alone. Lamenting and sharing in grief ritual can support you to metabolize and channel the energy of despair, anger, fear and anxiety into empowered action and creative expression.  

DETAILS: 

When: 3rd Friday of each month

Time: 7-9pm