The geography of grief, and a place to land

Staying With.
a free zoom communal gathering space for grief, discomfort, and inner reckoning

I’ve been thinking much lately about the geography of grief. Of hope. Of wanting. Of being. Of acing. And loving.

There’s so much unraveling. So much grief and injustice. So much to witness and metabolize. And the overwhelm of not knowing how to be with any of it, and still needing to keep going.

It’s easy to shut down, to go numb, to lose track of what we feel. Sometimes we can’t tell if we’re protecting ourselves or abandoning something important.

This space is an invitation to come back to yourself. Not to figure things out. To be in relationship with what’s emerging from within. To be present with your emerging noticings.

Being with and meeting discomfort is part of that. Especially discomfort that asks us to look inward. To notice what we’ve taken for granted. To question what we’ve been taught to trust. To feel into what sits okay and what doesn’t.

A reckoning that deeply matters. That’s rooted in healing, inside the messes. That reorients us to the gravity of this moment.

A gravity that needs to be felt and witnessed and experienced.

When we let ourselves feel it, it shows us where we are. And maybe, guides us where to go next.

So this is an invitation to gather.
Without agenda or performance.
Just you and me and other sweet humans, gathering together in community, in real time, bringing what we’re carrying.

Grief. Anger. Tenderness. Uncertainty. A desire to feel less alone.

This space is free. Nothing will be sold or promoted. Just an invitation to be here, fully, as you are.

🗓️ Wednesday, August 12th, from 7-8:30pm EST
📍 Zoom (link after registration)

register to join

I’ll share links to vetted organizations doing urgent humanitarian relief, for those who want to offer tangible support.

I hope you’ll join us in taking good care of ourselves, and each other.

Rebecca

Finding Words - A Letter From Rebecca

Hello sweet humans,


It’s been a minute.
I was looking back and realized I haven’t sent an email to our community since the end of 2024. It wasn’t my intent to go silent—and, I have.
I’ve been mostly wordless this first half of the year.
Not because there’s been nothing to say, but because I’ve been turning inward. Reorienting. Reorganizing.
The weight of the world landed deeply in my bones, and it’s taken me time to find my way back to writing you.


I invite you to pause and check in.
Have there been times when your world has felt heavy, and your words have been hard to access?
I suspect I’m not alone in this word-finding exploration.


Words are not our first language.
When I listen deeply to what’s emerging in me—through sensation, intuition, and digestion—word-finding becomes a practice of discovery.
The words help me orient toward what’s happening by naming it, and eventually, by sharing it.
And in that sharing, we can find out how those words land with others—whether they move us closer to or further from connection.


In this wordless space, I’ve come to trust my mess—by being with it.
By sitting in discomfort.
By listening for what wants to emerge, instead of pushing through.
By honoring the slower pace of deep reorganization.


And in that process, I’ve been remembering some core truths that feel especially important right now.


If you are feeling the chaos—you aren’t alone.
It’s not a you issue.
It’s the design of systems that maintain control by overwhelming our capacity to stay present.


Systems of power that depend on fear and division work by pulling us out of connection—with ourselves, and with each other.
They seek to hold power by overwhelming and disorienting our nervous systems, making it hard to discern fact from misinformation, danger from disconnection, and what’s ours from what’s systemic.
Power built on subjugation doesn’t just hide in shadows—it often shows up as pressure to push through, shut down, or turn away from what hurts.


But I’m clear: liberation is rooted in our solidarity.
In our nervous systems learning that discomfort isn’t danger.
In our capacity to turn toward what’s hard—together.
In refusing to abandon ourselves or each other, even when it feels like the world demands it.


My hope is rooted in the belief that we can build the capacity to face the world—its beauty and its brutality—with resilience, clarity, and a deep sense of worth and response-ability.


It’s a practice of staying present and bearing witness.
Of remembering that we—together—are not the chaos.
We are the ones capable of meeting it. Together.
Directionality is emerging.
It may not be loud or linear, but it’s real.


As I find my way back to a rhythm of holding space and facilitating connection, I’m grateful to find my words and return to your inbox.


In a workshop I attended yesterday, Linda Thai reminded us:
“Witnessing grief is the ultimate offering of dignity.”
Those words took root in me—and they’re now weaving their way into both what’s emerging and what continues.


I’m gathering these threads into a new offering:
Relationally Rooted—a three-part, in-person workshop series I hope to hold in a space tender enough to meet the depth of this work.
I’m still looking for the right place, one that feels sacred and grounded. If something comes to mind, I’d truly love to hear.

The series includes:
Turning Toward
Boundaries That Root Us
Rupture and Repair

Each one carries the thread of undoing aloneness—by being with grief.
In community. In presence. In slow, steady practice.
We’ll explore small, sustaining movements that help us stay with what hurts, without losing ourselves or each other.

I’ll also be reopening space for what’s most often requested:
– Therapist consult groups (new cohorts begin this fall)
– A limited number of 1:1 or relationship intensives, for those ready to go deep


We each have different ways we’re called to show up in this moment.
My hope is to keep creating spaces where we can return to ourselves—and to each other—without needing to go it alone.
To help us stay rooted in ourselves, so we don’t forget those roots inside the chaos.


The invitation is simple:
What if we practiced turning toward what hurts, together?
What if we remembered that our capacity to witness each other’s grief—and our own—is how we offer dignity in a world that often demands we look away?


You are not alone.

With love and solidarity,

Rebecca

 

If you want to learn more or stay connected, visit connectfulness.com. Or simply reply to this email—I’d love to hear from you.