Rebecca Guevara

Blossoms of the Lower Branches, a Hero's Journey Through Grief Rebecca Guevara

A recovered life is more than a griever's sorrow, it is a hero's win. This is an invitation to anyone locked in grief's grip who would like a more aware and positive look of where they have been, where they are, and where they are going. Grieving parents, children, spouses, siblings and friends would never choose to travel grief's hero journey. It is a dark walk through a mythical underworld, living in the belly of whale, facing tasks with Odysseus, seeing life's threads with the Norse Three Fates, and walking through frightening fairy tale forests. It is a deadly serious journey. Rebecca is a fellow traveler who made many mistakes as she grieved after her brother's death. Only after many years did she piece together her story and realize its similarity with the hero's journey. She tells her story, along with the story of many other grievers, who eventually accept, prepare and make the journey before experiencing a thoughtful return to a renewed life. Grief is not easy or pretty, and not everyone succeeds in finding a way through. The hero's journey has been in the written and oral traditions of cultures across the globe from the beginning of storytelling, and they all say this: Not everyone who begins the journey is a hero. Only those who finish the lonely journey and face its sorrows become heroes.