How Can I Celebrate and be Grieving? The Void In Between
Have you ever had one of those moments where you’re meant to be celebrating something, but deep down, there’s this heaviness that you can’t quite shake?
Maybe it’s a birthday. Or an anniversary. A milestone that should feel joyful… and yet, something feels off. You feel this tug, this ache, and you don’t really know where it’s coming from. Or maybe you do maybe you know exactly why.
You’re missing someone. Something’s changed. Life just doesn’t look the same.
And suddenly, you’re not just in celebration anymore. You’re in this strange emotional space that I call the void.
It’s that middle ground where grief and joy kind of blur together. Where you’re laughing one minute and holding back tears the next. Where you’re present but part of you is somewhere else entirely. Somewhere in the past. Somewhere with someone who should be here but isn’t.
I’ve been talking to a few people about this lately, and it’s so much more common than we realise. It comes up around birthdays, holidays, even New Year’s. That inner push and pull between being happy, and feeling like you’re carrying this quiet weight. And we don’t always talk about it, do we?
But I want to say this, gently and clearly: you are allowed to feel both.
You’re allowed to grieve and celebrate at the same time.
You’re allowed to feel joy and sadness in the same breath.
You’re allowed to love life and still long for what used to be.
It’s actually one of the most human things in the world, this ability to hold multiple truths at once.
And I think sometimes we forget that. We either try to push grief aside because “we should be happy,” or we stay stuck in the sadness because we feel guilty for smiling. But what if both were sacred? What if the void isn’t something to avoid… but something to move through?
That’s what I’ve been sitting with lately. How we hold space for ourselves in those in-between places. Because it’s not always about fixing, or solving, or getting out of it quickly. Sometimes, it’s just about honouring it. Letting it be what it is.
You give yourself permission to feel what you feel, and that’s when the healing starts.
And here’s something else I want you to know, especially if you’ve ever felt that quiet ache when everyone else around you seems fine:
So many people carry these emotions silently.
So many people are quietly navigating their own versions of the void.
If there’s a celebration coming up and part of you is dreading it… or if you’ve got a date circled on the calendar that brings more pain than joy… I want to remind you that you don’t have to pretend. You don’t have to push it down. You can be present for what is and honour what was.
You can laugh without guilt.
You can cry without shame.
The void can be a space where something new begins to rise.
I’ve seen this happen with so many of the people I work with, mediums in development, spiritually awakening, people who are feeling called to use their story or their pain in service of something greater.
Sometimes it starts with this exact moment: sitting in the void, feeling everything, and saying, “Alright. I’m ready to do something with this.”
So if something is stirring in you, maybe it’s a nudge to finally explore your gifts, or share your voice, or help others the way you’ve been helped, don’t ignore it.
That spark is your sign, that is you - receiving the knowing, your loved one reaching out, spirit's whispers.
That’s your soul remembering.
You don’t need to have it all figured out. You just need to take the next step.
With love,
Em x
