09/16/2025
Sometimes a smile in grief can feel wrong. After losing someone, a good day can bring up a wave of guilt. In my own grief journey, moments of lightness sometimes felt like betrayal. How could I allow myself to feel joy when my person’s life was cut short?
What I’ve come to understand both personally and through sitting with many grieving hearts as a grief therapist —is that moments of lightness or joy are not signs of forgetting, losing connection, or no longer grieving.
Grief is nuanced and complex. Some days it feels like heavy sorrow. Other days there may be a glimmer of ease, a break from the waves of grief. And sometimes both show up together.
If you’re noticing lighter moments, know this: you have permission to feel this. You’re allowed to hold contradictory emotions. You’re allowed to smile even when it hurts.
📖 If this resonates with you, or if you’re supporting someone in grief, you can read more in my latest blog post: https://anchoredhearts.ca/blog/coping-with-guilt-in-grief-when-joy-feels-wrong
💜 Please feel free to share this post so others walking through grief know they’re not alone.
Have you ever caught yourself laughing, smiling, or having a good day after loss—only to feel a wave of guilt wash over you? Maybe you noticed you weren’t spending every moment thinking about your person, or you sought out distractions from the heaviness of grief. In my own grief journey, moment
