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"Is there anything in permaculture that teaches us about dealing with grief? My oldest son passed away last year and I'm having a difficult time moving on. I haven't worked on any of my projects, really. In many ways, I feel like my life has ended." I do not think you can recover from such a loss and still be the same person you were. I don't say this to make you sadder, it is simply what I have experienced myself. The grief, oh, it changed me. I am still not the same person I was, I don't think I ever will. I have become more purposeful, more solemn, more faithful, more in ways that I would have never become if I had not suffered my loss. I have learned to live with a part of myself missing and very grudgingly embraced this other me that I wish had never happened. I have been able to find new joys but others died and were buried with the one I lost. Yet, I have a brightness of hope that I will see him again one day and that keeps me going. I am so sorry you have to go through this, because, yes, in many ways, your life has ended. There is another you waiting to be found. I promise you, she is there. You may not like her at first, but eventually, you will learn to embrace this stranger, this "after" you. You will never be the same because a piece of you is missing and you have to learn to love this broken thing that is you now.

⁠— Cecilia Harris