Words of Comfort
By Rebekah Ballagh
Allen & Unwin
Grief is an unavoidable and painful part of life. It is a very intense emotion and it can result from so many different things that life throws at us. We usually associate grief with losing someone close to us or the death of a pet, but grief can also come from a separation or relationship breakup; a major change in life such as retiring; losing your health or having someone close experiencing grief.
Words of Comfort has been compiled to help with the conflicting emotions of grieving that are often difficult to put into words. Qualified counsellor and mindfulness coach Rebekah Ballagh is the author of Note to Self and has a popular Instagram community @journey_to_wellness_ She sets out help with those overwhelming feelings of helplessness, hopelessness and uncertainty using minimal words.
Ballagh has created a companion to grief that she describes as “an empathetic safe space, a beacon of hope and a place where you can sit with your grief”. Her beautifully illustrated book explores the emotions and thoughts that may surface when experiencing grief with small grabs of information, suggestions, affirmations and sayings.
“Trying to contain grief is like trying to put a tornado in a jar” but the book offers strategies to help navigate your way through the tough time of grieving. The book tells us that there is no time limit on grieving and suppressed emotions can pop up in unexpected ways. While there is no ‘cure’ for grief, and no correct way to grieve, it provides ways to process emotions, strategies to help cope and ways to ask for help.
Words of Comfort also looks at some of the things we can learn about ourselves and our world, and take comfort from this difficult time with the little rays of sunshine and occasional silver linings. You’ll find that your resilience is greater than your trauma and you can pick and choose which pages of this helpful book to dwell on and which ones to leave until later.
Lezly Herbert
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