An Apprenticeship with Sorrow - Tending the Sorrows of Everyday Life with Francis Weller
Grief and loss touch us all, arriving at our door in countless ways. They come swirling on the winds of divorce, in the death of someone dear, or as illness that alters the course of a life. For many, grief is tied intimately to the ravages we witness daily: the degradation of watersheds and forests, the disappearance of species, the silencing of languages, and the coarsening of culture. And yet, our encounters with sorrow are often met with confusion, fear, and overwhelm. We are uncertain how to welcome this difficult guest when it surfaces in our lives.
This live-recorded webinar explores the elements of an Apprenticeship with Sorrow. Through the rites of grief, we are ripened as human beings. Grief invites gravity and depth into our world, urging us to understand it not only as an emotion but as a core faculty of being human. This apprenticeship is, at its heart, about crafting elders capable of meeting the pain and suffering of the world with a dignified and robust bearing. This is soul activism—intended to foster deep cultural change.
Cultivating the skills of grief work is critical in these days of wild uncertainty and rampant loss. We must fortify our inner and outer connections not only to weather the storms but to be tempered by them. We do this work not solely for our own healing, but to make us capable of responding to the critical needs of our times.
Grief and loss touch us all, arriving at our door in countless ways. They come swirling on the winds of divorce, in the death of someone dear, or as illness that alters the course of a life. For many, grief is tied intimately to the ravages we witness daily: the degradation of watersheds and forests, the disappearance of species, the silencing of languages, and the coarsening of culture. And yet, our encounters with sorrow are often met with confusion, fear, and overwhelm. We are uncertain how to welcome this difficult guest when it surfaces in our lives.
This live-recorded webinar explores the elements of an Apprenticeship with Sorrow. Through the rites of grief, we are ripened as human beings. Grief invites gravity and depth into our world, urging us to understand it not only as an emotion but as a core faculty of being human. This apprenticeship is, at its heart, about crafting elders capable of meeting the pain and suffering of the world with a dignified and robust bearing. This is soul activism—intended to foster deep cultural change.
Cultivating the skills of grief work is critical in these days of wild uncertainty and rampant loss. We must fortify our inner and outer connections not only to weather the storms but to be tempered by them. We do this work not solely for our own healing, but to make us capable of responding to the critical needs of our times.
Grief and loss touch us all, arriving at our door in countless ways. They come swirling on the winds of divorce, in the death of someone dear, or as illness that alters the course of a life. For many, grief is tied intimately to the ravages we witness daily: the degradation of watersheds and forests, the disappearance of species, the silencing of languages, and the coarsening of culture. And yet, our encounters with sorrow are often met with confusion, fear, and overwhelm. We are uncertain how to welcome this difficult guest when it surfaces in our lives.
This live-recorded webinar explores the elements of an Apprenticeship with Sorrow. Through the rites of grief, we are ripened as human beings. Grief invites gravity and depth into our world, urging us to understand it not only as an emotion but as a core faculty of being human. This apprenticeship is, at its heart, about crafting elders capable of meeting the pain and suffering of the world with a dignified and robust bearing. This is soul activism—intended to foster deep cultural change.
Cultivating the skills of grief work is critical in these days of wild uncertainty and rampant loss. We must fortify our inner and outer connections not only to weather the storms but to be tempered by them. We do this work not solely for our own healing, but to make us capable of responding to the critical needs of our times.
In this moving and richly layered conversation, psychotherapist and author Francis Weller invites us into a soulful exploration of grief as a necessary, even holy, response to the crises of our time. Framed by the raw tenderness of personal loss, ecological collapse, and cultural disconnection, Weller offers not just insight, but deep, grounded companionship for all of us navigating the “long dark” we now face.
This is not a lecture in the usual sense. It’s a transmission of care, clarity, and hard-earned wisdom. As Weller says, “Grief is not a pathology, it’s a core human faculty. And it’s what keeps the heart fluid.”
Joined by hosts Steffi Bednarek and Holly Truhlar, this dialogue touches on:
Why individual grief must return to the communal and ritual
How to support young people facing futures shaped by ecological grief
The power of silence, tenderness, and ritual as healing technologies
The danger of positivity culture and emotional utility in activist spaces
What it means to stay open-hearted in a time of collapse
For those familiar with Weller’s influential book The Wild Edge of Sorrow, this lecture extends his work with renewed urgency and intimacy. It’s for anyone carrying personal or planetary grief, and wondering how to hold it—not alone, but in community.
Let this offering be a refuge, a rhythm, a reminder: “We are meant to be poems, not strategies.”
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