Can it be a sense of renewal when grieving?
Spring is a season that whispers renewal, fresh beginnings, and hope. But when we are grieving, the arrival of spring can feel out of sync. When your heart aches and your spirit feels dormant, how do you embrace the call to begin again?
Grief doesn’t follow the calendar. It doesn’t pause for sunshine, blossoms, or celebrations. And yet, spring gently reminds us that even the deepest winters of the soul are not forever.
Renewal doesn’t mean forgetting. It means allowing ourselves to gently shift—from surviving to sensing the possibility of living again. To honor what was, while making space for what may be.
The Invitation of Spring
Grief can feel like being stuck in a long, cold season—one where color has faded, and even the brightest day feels dim. When we’re grieving, time may feel frozen, and emotions can come in waves.
Spring doesn’t ask us to leap forward. It invites us to soften. Just as the earth thaws slowly and blossoms gradually emerge, we, too, are allowed to unfold—bud by bud, moment by moment.
There is no rush. Only a quiet possibility:
That something within us may still want to bloom.
How Can We Renew Ourselves Through Grief?
This season is not about forcing a fresh start, but about gently tuning in to where we are—and what we need. If you’re wondering how to move toward renewal, even in small ways, here are some gentle practices to consider:
1. Create a Ritual of Release
What are you ready to let go of—guilt, regret, heaviness?
Write it down. Let it have a voice. Then plant those words into the earth, burn them in a safe container, or tear them into pieces and release them into flowing water.
Nature knows how to transform what we release. So do our hearts.
2. Connect with Nature
Let yourself be held by the natural world. Walk slowly. Feel the sun on your face or the breeze on your skin. Sit beneath a tree and breathe with its quiet strength.
Grief often disconnects us from the world around us. Nature invites us to remember: life continues… and you are still a part of it.
3. Tend to a Garden—or to Yourself
Plant something—perhaps herbs, flowers, or simply hope. Or tend to your body with nourishing food and kind movement.
Caring for life reminds us that we are capable of care, of love, of healing. Whether you grow a garden or water your inner soil, both are sacred.
4. Make Space for New Meaning
You may not feel ready for joy, but can you find moments of meaning? A shared memory. A comforting word. A sacred silence.
As Viktor Frankl wrote, “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”
Spring offers us that challenge—with tenderness.
5. Honor the One You Lost Through a New Tradition
Grief is love with nowhere to go—unless we give it direction.
Light a candle in their memory. Write them a letter. Cook their favorite meal. Volunteer or create something in their honor.
Your love doesn’t end—it transforms. Let it continue in a way that feels true to you.
Renewal Is Not a Requirement—It’s an Invitation
You are not expected to feel better simply because the season has changed. Spring doesn’t demand your healing. It simply offers a gentle whisper:
You are still here. And there is life within you.
You may still cry. You may feel joy and sadness in the same breath.
This, too, is renewal.
Grief and growth are not opposites.
They can coexist—softly, silently, and beautifully.
So whether today you smile through tears or simply sit quietly and breathe, know that this is enough.
Like spring, you are allowed to begin again—gently, and in your own time.
From my heart to yours,
Ligia M. Houben
