To aptly describe grief in a sentence, a paragraph, or even an essay is an impossible task. It is abstract, undefinable, fluid, and completely subjective. To experience it is inevitable, but to know how, why, when, or in what form is out of our hands.
Most often, when we think of grief, we think of death. The loss of a loved one and the pain left behind when they’re gone. But we can grieve so much more: identities, relationships, health, youth, friendships, dreams, and even certainty. It can arrive as sorrow, anger, numbness, denial, exhaustion, relief, fear, or regret; truthfully, the list is endless. And grief rarely moves in a straight line. Sometimes it crashes over us all at once like a wave. Sometimes it arrives in teeny, tiny bursts. Sometimes we feel nothing for months, then suddenly find ourselves crying without warning.
Like a spectrum, grief exists across a range rather than within a single fixed point. A spectrum is described as a gradual scale of variation, something that shifts across frequencies, wavelengths, intensities, and states rather than remaining singular or absolute. Light exists on a spectrum. Sound exists on a spectrum. And human experience itself exists across multiple spectrums, rather than within rigid binaries.
And the spectrum of grief does not exist independently of the forces surrounding it. Intersectionality adds further complexity: culture, identity, sexuality, religion, community, family dynamics, lived experience, and access to support all influence where and how grief is experienced across that spectrum. These intersections create endless variations in the ways grief is felt, expressed, and understood. No two people experience grief in exactly the same way, because no two lives are shaped by the same combinations of experience, circumstance, and identity.
Sanctuary is a blend designed for deep healing, comfort and calm so we may invite grief in whatever form it takes and offer ourselves a safe space to process it.