Paisley Strong
Blog Posts
Articles and musings on what it’s like to be a widow, stories of acceptance, healing, and hope for right now and in the future, and guidance through our L.I.V.E. framework.
Meet Diane: Coaching Spotlight
Seeing a splendid horizon with potential of new beginnings is refreshing. Stepping into activities, venturing places you’ve never gone, giving yourself permission to smile and “just do it” is such a restorative transformation from being down and out.
Meet Michelle: Embracing Coaching to Navigate Widowhood
As I started to shift my thoughts from loss to life, things started to change. Something in me was different and I started to believe that it was possible to be happy again. After all, I had been through the unimaginable. I survived the worst and made it to the other
side. Once I gave myself permission to have a new life, gradually I felt different, stronger and wiser. I let go of the need to figure everything out and instead let my intuition, heart and soul guide me.
Paisley Pillars of Healing
Research shows that these activities transform grief into resilience and our six Pillars of Healing are embedded in every activity and program we offer. Each on its own provides relief and supports a widow’s well-being, providing a stable, grounding place to rest. Combined, they hold space for healing, like then pillars of a building hold up the roof, containing and describing an open protected space within.
Putting the Pieces Together
Paisley Project’s greatest contribution is offering hope for those women who didn’t believe that life could ever be as good as it was before.
And I now know that it can.
Ten Years On, and Just Beginning
All of this has been more meaningful and impactful than I could have ever imagined. I would never have wished for the accident that widowed my sister and took away a father from her four children. I would never have wished widowhood on any of the amazing women I’ve come to know and love.
But I am grateful nevertheless. Because the past ten years have brought us here, to this place where we finally have the confidence to know that what we do makes a difference.
How I Learned to L.I.V.E.
In a world where grief is often a hush-hush topic, we vowed to change the narrative. . . . Our road was full of twists and turns, mixed with moments of trial and error. Looking back, I zig-zagged my way through the L.I.V.E. process, crafting my very own journey.
Could You Open My Jar of Pickles, Please?
A guest post by Paisley Project member, Diane Farris! We appreciate her willingness to share her story and what she has learned.
Stepping Forward to L.I.V.E
[T]here is something for you and you are something for others . . . it could be your silence or your words; it could be your tears or your laughter; it could be your heart and soul and spirit; it could be your hands that help or hug or create or stay folded; it could be what you have never thought about; it could be what stirred in you before now awakened out of dormancy; it could be a springboard to who knows where…