Grief does not always come from death. At Samhain, we honor what we’ve lost: people, relationships, and parts of ourselves. This reflection explores seasonal thresholds and the healing practice of grief gardening.

Joy didn’t return after the grief. It bloomed quietly inside it — in color, in small creations, in socks and paint and the pulse of something still very much alive.

A grief garden isn’t just a place to plant. It’s a living altar. In this post, I share what a grief garden is, how it can support emotional and spiritual healing, and how one client honored her mother’s memory through a small, sacred space. Whether you're grieving a loved one, a version of yourself, or a season of life, this is an invitation to slow down, root in presence, and tend what still matters.

Grief, like compost, it isn’t something to fix, it’s something to tend and work with. The garden reminds me that what falls apart can still become fertile, that loss can turn into new life.

Spite & Bloom is a blog about creating beauty, connection, and meaning even in uncertain times. You will find stories of creativity, nature, healing, and slow living told through personal reflections, garden metaphors, and art in progress.

A sick deer appeared in my yard one summer evening and I could not stop thinking about it. Weeks later I witnessed its final days and the healthy deer that stayed close until the end. This is what the experience taught me about fragility, strength, and the cycles we cannot control.

I thought I bought 2 crowns, turned out it was 20. A messy planting became a lesson in patience, ritual, and trusting the process.

I didn’t plan to bring home 100 strawberry plants, but I did. This is about unexpected abundance, land lessons, and adaptation.