“There is an alchemy in sorrow. It can be transmuted into wisdom, which, if it does not bring joy, can yet bring happiness.”
— Pearl S. Buck
When a friend approached me regarding an opening on the Board of Directors of Wild Grief I was surprised by the flood of emotion I felt as I learned about its mission. The conversation surfaced long suppressed memories of my father’s death when I was 15, and how little I was helped through my grief.
Wild Grief is an Olympia, Washington-based nonprofit grief support organization that combines peer counseling with the healing power of nature. This idea of combining grief support with being outdoors, in nature, resonated with me deeply. Wild Grief was co-founded by several grief counselors, and a former wildlife biologist who lost his mother when he was 10 and who wanted to use the outdoors as a path toward wholeness for grieving children, teens, and young adults, as well as their parents. Wild Grief has a unique approach to counseling that is easily replicable, but few counseling organizations offer similar programs. It began in 2018 with backpacking trips with children and counselors in the Pacific Northwest and has since served over 100 young people. During the pandemic, Wild Grief created online programs, such as “Hike Habit” virtual hikes, which increased the organization’s reach across the United States. Hike Habit is a monthly online grief peer support group that allows participants to meet online, share their loss, hike for 30 minutes, and then return to reflect together on their experience. The “hike” is flexible and can include strolling the neighborhood, sitting in the yard, or simply enjoying fresh air by an open window and watching the sky.
Wild Grief believes wilderness heals:
“In the wilderness, we live under the stars, sleep on the earth, and remember our place. We believe that giving teens a chance to explore their grief with a group of peers in the wilderness will help them in their grief journey.”
When my friend approached me about Wild Grief, I was not looking to join another nonprofit board; in fact, I was looking in the opposite direction. But as I learned more about Wild Grief’s mission and met its profoundly caring board members, volunteers, and single staff member, I couldn’t help but imagine how such an organization would have helped me work through the grief of my father’s death. I recalled the depth of loss and confusion when my sweet dad died from a lethal, self-induced combination of alcohol and drugs. My parents were divorced at the time, and the actual details of his death were murky to me; I’m unsure to this day what actually transpired the night he died, he was simply gone. I know an organization like Wild Grief would have eased my grief and confusion and could have assuaged the guilt I felt for decades after.
As I become more acquainted with Wild Grief’s philosophy, the idea of “normalizing” death has arisen in many channels. With Covid-19, death has become less abstract — it’s no longer something that happens to ‘somebody else’ — and has caused us to confront our own fear of death. This is really life-affirming because death is the catalyst helping us focus on what’s important in our lives.
Wild Grief’s mission is intertwined with Petal + Bramble’s through its focus on community building, resilience, health, and the environment. We are grateful for the chance to support this mission and hopefully help others through their grief, while I continue to process my own. To learn more about Wild Grief’s programs go to Wild Grief.
Stephanie Daley-Watson is a retired corporate lawyer, spouse, and mother of two newly adult children. Stephanie spent nearly 30 years practicing law and is focusing (along with her husband Christopher) on making the world a better place over the next 30. She is a newly minted wellness coach focusing on healthy aging. Stephanie is an avid cyclist, lifelong learner, and novelty seeker.