If you are struggling with grief after pet loss as New Year is approaching, this article will provide you with some insights and suggestions for entering the new year with more peace of mind and while honoring your beloved pet as well as yourself.
As I often do, I look to my spirit helpers and animal companions for wisdom and insights, and the following is what happened as I ask for a New Year’s message and helpful insights for people who have lost their animal companion:
As I prepare I look out at the garden. The trees have no leaves, but the sun just came out and the birds are singing.
“Are you ready?”, I hear a voice say.
“Yes, I’m ready.” I get a sense of sitting outside under the apple tree.
“You’re right! What better place to write about letting go of the old and embracing the new.” The apple tree says.
The apple tree continues: “There’s a cycle to everything in nature. As a tree sheds its leaves in the fall, letting them go to become one with the earth, a period of rest comes where the tree prepares for a new year – preparing for growing new leaves, flowers and, in my case, apples. I embrace the cycles, resting fully in, but not hanging on to, any of those cycles. So it is with any life form.
In the case of pet loss, an animal companion came into your life at some point during its life and spent a while – long or short – with you. And as with any life form, the physical body reaches the end of its cycle/time while the life force, the essence, continues. As the New Year comes, it marks a time for you to let go of the “old”.
What in your life do you need to say goodbye to and let go of?
Let it go with a blessing and with an expression of gratitude. Feeling sadness when letting go of someone or something is normal, but with the sadness let there also be thankfulness in your heart as you send your companion on their way.
New Year is a time to practice letting go as you prepare for your new life. Your life used to include your animal companion, so at New Year acknowledge that space in your life and go within to prepare for the new year that is coming.
Contemplate what you want this new year to look like. You can think both on a long term and a short term basis. If you are still grieving the loss of your animal companion, ask yourself what you can do now to
- Take care of yourself
- And honor your animal companion
You could, for example, take time to journal or write a letter to your pet, express your feelings or recall fond memories.
New Year is also a good time for a pet memorial ceremony – to connect with and express your gratitude to your animal companion.
Without your animal companion there is a void in your life, and with that void you are also missing that special someone to care for, to love. New Year can be a time for giving to those in need, in honor of your animal companion. It could be as simple as feeding the birds in the garden or in a nearby park.
Perhaps at this point you cannot see or plan further – and that’s okay. But what you can do is let yourself dream – and write down all your dreams and wishes, small and big.
Sometimes when we care for animals we naturally put them first and our own needs or wishes last. This New Year also take time to look within and ask yourself:
What do I wish to create or do – for me – in this new year?
Write down everything that comes up – small things, big projects. Is there one small step you can take today?
Let us end with contemplating on the new year as a new day, a new season
Imagine out of the darkness a little light begins to shine. A sun that rises in the horizon, sending its life giving rays out in all directions – blessing all and bringing new life. Be in that light – and be that light – as you move forward in this year. And remember as your move forward, that your beloved animal companion – with the life and the memories you shared – will forever be part of you from now on.”
Peace and blessings – and Happy New Year!
Marianne Soucy
