Surviving the Holidays While Grieving
Unfiltered Reflection: Briana Hardy
No one prepares you for how loud grief gets during the holidays.
The lights feel too bright.
The music comes on too early.
People talk about traditions like they’re automatic — like your body hasn’t already learned this season is different now.
You might look okay. You might even smile.
But inside, you’re counting exits — from conversations, from rooms, from days that ask too much of you.
Grief doesn’t disappear because the calendar says celebrate.
It sits beside you at the table.
It shows up in empty chairs, familiar recipes, and songs you didn’t ask to remember.
The holidays don’t just bring memories — they magnify them.
And still… you wake up.
You get dressed.
You show up in ways no one sees.
You survive mornings that feel heavier than they should.
You carry loss quietly through spaces that expect joy.
If the holidays feel like something to get through rather than enjoy, there is nothing wrong with you.
Survival is not failure.
Getting through is not weakness.
Resting is not quitting.
You don’t need to make this season meaningful.
You don’t need to be grateful.
You don’t need to hold joy and grief in perfect balance.
Some days you participate.
Some days you pull back.
Some days you do the bare minimum and call it enough.
That is not giving up.
That is listening to yourself.
If all you do this season is breathe, that counts.
If you cancel plans, that counts.
If you allow yourself to feel what’s actually there — without rushing to fix it — that counts too.
You are not behind.
You are not broken.
You are surviving something real.
And that is more than enough.
A Gentle Place to Land
If this season feels especially heavy, I created Seven Days of Stillness — a short, gentle email series designed for moments when everything feels too loud.
One reflection each morning.
No pressure to write.
No expectation to feel better.
Just a quiet place to land.
👉 You can find it here when you’re ready.
Thanx for being here,
XOXO BRI
