Grief isn’t Linear… It’s More Like the Weather

Grief is such a strange, shape-shifting companion. It doesn’t knock before it walks in, and it definitely doesn’t follow any of the “stages” diagrams we were all shown at some point. One day it’s a fog, another day it’s a punch in the sternum, and other times it’s just a weird heaviness that shows up when you’re minding your own business trying to buy cereal.

But here’s the thing: grief isn’t a malfunction. It’s evidence that something or someone mattered deeply. And for as awful as it feels, it’s also one of the most profoundly human experiences we get.

People talk about grief like it’s a five-step staircase. In reality, it’s more like a weather app that can’t predict itself. Some mornings you wake up feeling okay, even hopeful, and by lunchtime you’re blindsided by a memory, a scent, a song, or absolutely nothing at all. And that’s normal. Grief cycles, softens, returns, and reshapes itself over time.

The trick isn’t to “get over it.”

The trick is learning to ride the shifts without judging yourself for them. Take a breath. One long, deep breath. You’re not broken. You’re not doing this wrong. You’re not supposed to be “over it” yet. You’re just a person who lost something real, and you’re learning how to live in the after. That’s incredibly brave, even if it doesn’t feel like it.