Catching Your Breath in Grief

Book excerpt: Catching Your Breath in Grief ...and grace will lead you home is a one-of-a-kind, heart-to-heart invitation to reflect on essential realities of life, deep human needs in soul and spirit, agonies of loss, and the hope and meaning possible in dark times. Written by Thomas Attig, a leading scholar in the field of death, dying, and bereavement, it is a remarkably accessible, even lyrical, treatment of profound truths from philosophy, depth psychology, and spirituality. Its combination of engaging text and uncannily matched, exquisite photographs is unique. As the author reflects on aspects of a universal story whose themes thread through the world's great spiritual and religious traditions, he invites readers to join in wondering about their own personal losses, loves, and lives. And he guides them in seeking hopeful paths to walk in the next chapters of their own life stories. About the Author: THOMAS ATTIG, PhD, is an applied philosopher and author of "How We Grieve: Relearning the World" (revised edition, 2011) and "The Heart of Grief: Death and the Search for Lasting Love" (2000), both published by Oxford University Press. A Past President of the Association for Death Education and Counseling and recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from The International Network on Personal Meaning, Tom Attig now lives in Victoria, British Columbia where he continues writing and teaching on-line. He invites you to visit his web site at www.griefsheart.com. About the Photographer: WILLIAM RATHJE, PhD (1945-2012), was a renowned archaeologist best known for The Garbage Project, using archaeological methods to mine landfills for insight into contemporary culture. His photos appeared in National Geographic, Natural History, and Shambala Sun. He photographed the natural world to provide vivid emotional connections with the assimilation of life's ups and downs. See "Remembering Bill" at www.griefsheart.com.