Activity time: 25 minutes

Acknowledge everyone’s hard work and creativity as participants look at their collective work posted on the wall. Ask:

What was it like to bring together the high peaks and low valleys in your past life experience?

This is the time for participants to briefly share feelings about the experience if they wish. Then ask:

Who would like to share their work, or parts of it?

As participants share, there may be some tears. Say:

We love our happy times and people, but past hurts and losses can still be felt. Writing about those sad or challenging happenings in Your Journal can help put them to rest. Remember, tears are cleansing. Expressing grief through writing and with the use of color and symbols can strengthen our sense of well-being and purpose. It allows us to move on and sense our hidden strengths. As Maya Angelou said, “You will face many defeats in your life, but never let yourself be defeated.”

Share this quote from a 1988 UUA pamphlet, “All Our Losses”, by John Nichols:

The feelings that sweep over us in grieving, however uncomfortable and strange, are essential to rebuilding our personal worlds so that we may become more accepting of a life that contains joy and sorrow. We want our churches and fellowships to be communities that will be with us at times of loss, to comfort and to wait with us in the confidence that we will emerge from our grief with greater strength and perspective.