🌿 When Grief Becomes a Gateway: Reflections on My Humans of Fuzia Feature and the Journey Back to Self
There are moments in our lives when the world reflects something back to us — a truth we’ve been living, often quietly, for decades.
Being featured by Humans of Fuzia was one of those moments.
Their global community of over 5 million readers was invited into a story I’ve carried for most of my life: the understanding that people do not need to be fixed… they need to be felt with. They need presence. They need a steady place to land as they move through the invisible terrain of grief, transition, and emotional overwhelm.
This feature wasn’t just about my profession.
It was about a calling — one shaped by 30 years at the bedside, in funeral homes, in crisis rooms, and in the quiet spaces where people whisper the truest parts of themselves.
And it reaffirmed something I see every day:
Grief isn’t always death. Sometimes it’s the loss of who we thought we were.
🌿 The Adults Who Look Steady but Carry the Most
One of the reasons Fuzia’s editors wanted to share this story is because so many of their readers — leaders, caregivers, high performers — feel this way.
They look composed.
They manage everything.
They show up for everyone.
But inside, there is a quiet emotional weight no one sees.
These are the people I support every day:
• leaders navigating burnout
• parents trying to stay steady for everyone else
• healthcare workers holding constant emotional strain
• funeral directors absorbing others’ grief
• professionals who feel disconnected from themselves
• caregivers who rarely receive care
They don’t need fixing.
They need reassurance that their emotions make sense — and a grounded method to reconnect with their steady, Healthy Adult self.
This is why I teach The Adult Chair® model.
This is why I guide people through emotional regulation, somatic tools, boundaries, and compassionate self-awareness.
Because when people reconnect with the part of themselves that is grounded and present, everything shifts.
🌿 A Personal Reflection on the Journey
One of the questions I was asked in the feature was about challenges.
My biggest challenges were internal:
• learning to slow down
• trusting timing
• softening urgency
• allowing myself to be supported
• recognizing that the world was ready for this level of emotional truth
And now, after thousands of conversations, I know:
People are craving spaces where they can be honest about their internal lives.
They are craving presence.
They are craving steadiness.
And they are craving permission to feel without judgment.
🌿 Grief Is More Than We Name
In the interview, I shared a truth I wish every person was taught early in life:
Grief is not limited to the grave.
It shows up in:
• identity shifts
• divorce or separation
• children leaving home
• burnout and emotional fatigue
• major transitions
• the loss of a dream or a role
• the slow unraveling of who we used to be
When we don’t name these experiences as grief, we dismiss our very real emotions. We tell ourselves we’re “overreacting” or that we should push through.
But the nervous system doesn’t speak in logic.
It speaks in sensation.
It speaks in overwhelm.
It speaks through the moments we feel disconnected from ourselves.
And that disconnection is often the doorway back inward — if we allow it.
🌿 A Larger Vision for Emotional Literacy
The feature also highlighted something I feel is urgently needed in our world:
Emotional literacy is leadership literacy.
Whether we’re guiding organizations, families, or our own lives, our relationship with our emotions shapes our clarity, boundaries, communication, and presence.
My aspiration — shared in the article — is to bring emotional literacy into:
• corporate leadership
• education
• healthcare systems
• caregiving communities
• grief-informed workplaces
We are living in a time where nervous system overwhelm is the norm.
But it doesn’t have to be.
There are tools.
There is a path back to steadiness.
People can feel strong and connected again — not by pushing harder, but by learning to be with themselves instead of against themselves.
🌿 A Message for Anyone Navigating Transition, Loss, or Overwhelm
As I shared with Fuzia:
You’re not behind — you’re becoming.
You don’t need to be fearless to move forward.
Your softness is not your weakness — it’s your superpower.
Every ending, every uncertainty, every moment you feel unsteady…
is an invitation to come home to yourself.
If your nervous system is whispering for support, or if the emotional weight you’ve been carrying feels like too much to navigate alone, it would be an honor to walk with you.
🌿 Complimentary First Step
If something in this story resonated…
👇 Here are a few gentle, complimentary starting points:
📅 Reserve your Complimentary 1hr Premium High-Level 1:1 Support Call:
Come as you are. You will leave feeling more grounded, clear, and steady.
👉 https://dontdespaircoaching.com/freecall
📂 Explore the Grief Toolbox:
Download the same tools my clients use to reconnect with themselves.
👉 https://dontdespaircoaching.com/toolbox
🎧 Listen to My Feature + Story:
Close Up Radio’s “From Despair to Repair”
👉 https://dontdespaircoaching.com/cindi-in-the-media-despair-to-repair
