Awakening From Grief

July 1, 2003
Welshons's book characterizes grief as a journey to one's self that one achieves by passing through the doors of sadness. Grief includes, but is not limited to, the mourning associated with death and takes the form of avoiding unpleasantness or disappointment. "Our entire culture," the author writes, "is built on maximizing pleasure through the systematic avoidance of grief" by avoiding, busying, distracting, and/or numbing ourselves. The energy we consume in avoidance detracts from our ability to embrace life's downs as well as its ups. Embracing tragedy, disappointment, and unpleasantness "can become the groundwork for tremendous growth and insight" in life. These opportunities-catalysts in disguise-provide a chance for "aliveness," "awareness," and "enthusiasm" to break through. Welshons, a student of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, previously self-published this title and sold 17,000 copies; his clear, direct style will hook readers. Highly recommended for all libraries.

Copyright 2003 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.