Each person has a different approach to grief and finding their way through the heart break. For many, at least part of that path includes time leaning into religions, seeking solace and connection in the midst of the pain.

Buddhism may not be the religion you primarily identify with, but there is a lot of strength to be had here in learning to be present and peaceful in suffering. 

Here is a short (less than 7 minutes) video on YouTube by Roshi Joan Halifax.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tl3bTHxqW0o

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A great delight in this world is the love and companionship of animals who have decided to trust and care for you.

The hard part is that they often live much shorter lives than the humans who care for them, or even the other animals in your home, neighborhood, and life. It's a pain that children, adults, and other animals feel. Yes, indeed, animals grieve, too.

At some point we will need to work through the grief and heart break of amazing animals that we've been lucky enough to love. 

In addition to the Grief Recovery for Pet Loss book listed on the main resources page, we also suggest this pamphlet by the Ohio State University  veterinary program on handling that. 

See the full brochure, published in 2020, here:
vmc.vet.osu.edu/sites/default/files/documents/coping_with_loss_brochure_2020_web.pdf
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Creating in any fashion that is natural to you is a healing and universal way to work through grief.

While it's important to come to completion with the relationships you have grief over, and not stay busy to avoid grief, there are also times when we need to do, make, and create in order to heal and cope.

​The New York Times on May 25, 2024 published this piece about 10 Artists on Living and Creating Through Grief.  See the full article here: 

www.nytimes.com/2024/05/25/arts/grief-loss-jesmyn-ward-richard-grant.html