The Loneliness of Grief: Finding Comfort Together
Grief Sucks…
Grief has been one of the loneliest journeys of my life. When I lost my parents, the world around me kept moving, but mine felt like it had stopped. Even when I was surrounded by people, I felt so alone and sometimes still do. No one could truly understand the depth of what I was going through.
What made it harder was how invisible grief can be. People don’t always know what to say, so they say nothing at all. As a woman, I also felt the unspoken pressure to “be strong,” to hold myself together, when inside I was breaking. That loneliness was suffocating, and at times it felt like I was carrying it all by myself. The loneliness of grief is worn by many in different forms.
Over time, I realised that part of my pain came from the silence around grief. There weren’t many safe spaces for women, especially young women, to sit together and talk honestly about loss. And yet, I knew I couldn’t be the only one feeling this way. When my dad died – people wondered why mother hadn’t passed yet when she had been suffering from ill health and when my mum passed- questions surrounding now what was going to happen to everything she owned. Nobody asked so can we help you….
That’s where the idea for Cups of Comfort was born. I wanted to create a space where grief could be spoken about openly, where women could sit together, share their stories, or simply be heard over a cup of tea. At our recent event, I watched women who had never met before find connection through shared experiences. There was no need to pretend, no need to hide. Just honesty, warmth, and understanding.
For me, it was healing in itself. It reminded me that even though grief is such a personal journey, it doesn’t have to be a lonely one and it isn’t through loss either, it can be in forms of divorce, job loss, identity loss and many other forms. By coming together, we create small pockets of comfort, and those moments can make the heaviness a little easier to carry.
If you are in the thick of grief, I want you to know this: it’s okay to feel lonely, and it’s okay to take your time. Healing isn’t about “getting over it”- it’s about learning to live alongside the loss. And sometimes, the most powerful step you can take is reaching out to sit with others who understand.
That’s what B.L.O.O.M by SMA is all about. It’s my way of honouring my parents, turning my pain into purpose, and making sure no woman has to face her journey alone. My hope is that Cups of Comfort and future events continue to give women the space to breathe, to share, and to find strength in each other.
You don’t have to walk this path on your own. Together, we can find comfort — one cup at a time.
Interested in joining a walk or learning more about B.L.O.O.M?
Email me directly at bloombysma@hotmail.com
Let’s walk. Let’s talk. Let’s bloom.
