Creative Mornings: LOST
An Artistic Presentation on Grief

Grief is complicated. It doesn’t just mean you’re sad—you go through a roller coaster of denial, anger, depression, bargaining, and acceptance. You can grieve missing out on an experience, you can grieve lost oral history, and you can experience joy in the midst of all of it. I held that tension and all the layers that came with it for a really long time, and in that time I realized it was important for me to keep it private. One of the slides I regret cutting said, “People tell you to get over it, scripture tells you to cry.” When I let myself feel what I needed to feel to truly heal, not temporarily shove it down, I was able to make it through. Enough time has passed now that when my friend Brittany asked if I’d be interested in speaking for Creative Mornings on the theme of Lost, I knew I could do it. I chose to talk about a complicated topic the only healthy way I know how, with 20 minutes and a slide deck. My hope was that sharing my story will inspire someone else to share theirs. Thank you Creative Mornings for inviting me to present, to everyone who came, to everyone who messaged me after, and to my friends and family who couldn’t be there but encouraged me from afar. Shout out to Ryan Stopera for making the videos in my talk! Lastly, thanks Rebecca Slater, MindTwist Studio and Alvan Washington for documenting the day. View the recap video here and the full presentation here.