Grief Science

Bittersweetness recognises that light and dark, birth and death—bitter and sweet—are forever paired. As Bittersweet shows, our obsession with happiness is not making us happy, healthy or whole. It's only by embracing our darker emotions—as well as the light—that we discover our deepest meaning and connection, love and joy. It can change the way we work, the way we create and the way we love—for it is the hidden source of our love stories, moonshots and masterpieces.

★★★★★★★★★★WHY WE SLEEP AND DREAM DREAMING★★★★★★★★★★ In the middle of the night, when it’s dark and quiet, do you feel like you’re the only one awake? Do you think there is something mysteriously wrong with you because you cannot sleep? Do you lie in bed waiting for sleep to show up like you’re waiting for a taxi? Do you believe if you forget to do one part of your bedtime routine, or do your routine out of sequence, you won’t sleep that night? Are you anxious and frustrated, wondering each night how long it will take to fall asleep, or if ...

The pain and shock when a child dies can seem unbearable. But expert-on-grief Katherine Fair Donnelly, who has suffered many personal losses, has gained wisdom and strategies for emotional recovery. By sharing, understanding, and accepting this tragic loss, bereaved parents, siblings, and others can cope with this intense grief.

Failed father, failed husband, and failed scholar, Charles Hayden hopes to put his life back together with a new project: a biography of Caedmon Hollow, the long-dead author of a legendary Victorian children’s book, In the Night Wood, and forebear of his wife, Erin. Deep in mourning from the loss of their young daughter, they pack up their American lives, Erin gives up her legal practice, and the couple settles in Hollow’s remote Yorkshire mansion.

Every year, some two million parents in the US suffer the death of a son or daughter. The unnatural sequence of the child's preceding the parent in death creates a wrenching loss and overwhelming emotional and spiritual disorientation. Most of these bereaved parents find relief from their isolation only in the company of others like themselves. The Grieving Garden offers support, understanding, and, ultimately, comfort and hope from those who have sowed the same tears over the death of a child.

Thomas G. Long, one of America's most trusted and thoughtful pulpit voices, provides a much needed theological and cultural critique of today's Christian funeral. Long begins by describing how the Christian funeral developed historically, theologically, and liturgically and then discusses recent cultural trends in funeral practices, including the rise in number of cremations and memorial services.

All of us fear death at some level - both our own and the death of those we love. Religion and politics exploit that fear. There are better and more credible ways to confront the anxiety that death causes and even find hope. This audiobook will help you do that. Drawing from science, philosophy, psychology, psychic phenomena, history, and various spiritual traditions, the listener will discover a balanced approach to death that takes into account all the possibilities.

These three ‘Consolations', written by Seneca to his mother and two friends, have been described as ‘the crowning achievement in the canon of ‘consolation letters'. But sentimental they are not, for they emerge from the writer's deep-seated commitment to Stoicism, where individuals are exhorted to inhabit qualities of virtue, positivity, resilience, and indifference. This recording opens with Seneca's consolatory letter to Marcia, who, after three years, was still mourning the death of her son.

Jason King has lost the ship that carried his dreams, and the woman who gave him hope. Haunted by grief and the weigh of his past, Jason returns to an Earth still under the iron grip of the United Earth Government. But home is no longer home, and neither is he the man who once fled it. What begins as a journey of quiet return soon becomes a final reckoning. Old enemies stir. New alliances shift. And Jason must decide whether to walk away from the fight, or stand once more in defense of what remains. But redemption comes with a cost and some sacrifices echo across the stars. Equinox: The ...

Max's life has been shattered since the tragic loss of his wife and newborn during childbirth. Haunted by grief and living in a hollow world, his existence feels like a never-ending echo of pain. But everything changes one fateful night at a dimly lit bar when Max encounters a mysterious figure who looks exactly like him—only this other self is vibrant, joyful, and full of life. Desperate to reclaim his lost happiness, Max embarks on a journey to understand who this doppelgänger is and how he can reclaim the life he once had. Night Portals is a metaphysical series that explores the ...

National Book Critics Circle Award finalist David R. Dow confronts the reality of his work on death row when his father-in-law is diagnosed with lethal melanoma, his beloved Doberman becomes fatally ill, and his young son begins to comprehend the implications of mortality. "Every life is different, but every death is the same. We live with others. We die alone".

This is a book of stories and inspiration. And it’s a little more than that. It’s a collaboration of 25 end-of-life experts, coaches, healers, therapists, and practitioners who’ve trained in modalities to assist the dying, and their caregivers. This is a powerful book with glimpses into what’s next for us. It’s a collection of brave authors who share, not only what death means to them, but how life has changed with their deeper understanding.

New York Times best-selling author Jeff Benedict has seen both good and bad in his career as a journalist. Some of the best are the extraordinary people he has met who have made deliberate choices to live happier lives despite the extreme hardship that each of them have faced. Although life will knock us down from time to time, this book is an important reminder that we all can make a choice to get back up, brush ourselves off, and keep pressing forward.

Mo has been sent to explore the furthest reaches of the universe to find proof of God, but secretly he’s hoping that an alien will put him out of his misery. He’d love to drink himself to death like his dad, but drinking is haram, like suicide. His journey through alien cultures and faiths holds a mirror up to Mohamed's own beliefs, causing him to question everything he knows. The only certainty left is that he wants to die, but how can he commit suicide when his mom phones him every day asking about his marriage prospects? Maybe a pious Muslim woman will help him move past his dad’s ...

What if everything you loved was just a simulation—and you chose to believe in it anyway? In the near future, after the Singularity has blurred the line between human and machine, Josiah Kim lives the perfect life: a loving wife, a brilliant daughter, a home in paradise. Until one morning, everything shatters—and he’s left with nothing but grief and a mysterious device that lets him see them again. Crafted from memory, code, and haunting precision, Prompt Theory is a mind-bending journey through loss, love, and the ethics of artificial resurrection. As Josiah grapples with reality, ...

'What is life?' asked the poet Shelley, and could not come up with an answer. Scientists, too, have not solved the puzzle. Yet biographers and obituarists continue to corral lives in a few columns, or a few hundred pages, aware all the time how fleeting and elusive their subject is. In Lifescapes, the acclaimed biographer and obituarist Ann Wroe reflects on a career spent pursuing life: a process, as she sees it, not of chronological narration but of trying to seize souls.

Losing a parent is a traumatic blow, and the grief can seem unbearable. But you are not alone, and you can get through this. In this first book dedicated to the experience of adults who have lost a parent, expert on grief Katherine Fair Donnelly shares intimate, telling interviews with surviving sons and daughters and presents practical ways in which surviving family members can take steps toward recovering from their devastating loss.

In What Does It Feel Like to Die?, Jennie Dear combines the latest research and medical findings with her own experiences as a hospice volunteer and caregiver to answer the questions we all want to know. As a long-time hospice volunteer, Jennie Dear has helped countless patients, families, and caregivers cope with the many challenges of the dying process. Inspired by her own personal journey with her mother's long-term illness, Dear demystifies the experience of dying for everyone whose lives it touches.

Penetrating our hearts and minds, climate grief is not an ailment we have to heal from but a call to change the trajectory of our shared future. The universality, urgency, and inescapable scope of climate change leads to a depth of grief we are not prepared to cope with, and a grief that is still largely unknown and ignored. Climate change and climate grief are inseparable, and coping with the emotional fallout of the climate crisis is our first step toward dealing with the crisis itself and to building resilience.

Locked deep in the castle's dungeon, Yelena knows she’ll never be free again. The laws in Ixia are strict, and murderers must be executed, no matter the reason. But just as she’s resigned to her fate, she’s offered an extraordinary reprieve – to be the food taster for the Commander of Ixia. As the food taster, Yelena will eat the best meals, have a room in the castle, and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander.