A gentle reflection by Milagros Silva | 3-minute read
There’s a kind of grief that doesn’t get named. It doesn’t come with sympathy cards or neatly written endings. It doesn’t have a funeral, or a script, or a timeline. And yet—it lives in the quietest corners of your heart.
It’s the grief of the life you imagined. Maybe it’s the child you thought you’d have by now. The marriage you believed would last. The health you once had. The dream that slipped quietly through your fingers while you were busy surviving.
Maybe it’s the version of *you* who never got the chance to exist—the one who felt free, loved, or whole.
This kind of grief is invisible. But it’s real.
You might still get up, smile, go to work, support others. And yet, beneath it all, there’s a subtle ache for a life that was supposed to feel different. A future that felt like it was meant for you. A version of your story that got rewritten—without your permission.
You might hear yourself say:
• “I should be over this by now.”
• “It wasn’t that bad compared to what others go through.”
• “I made the right choice… so why do I still feel this way?”
Grief doesn’t always make sense. But your pain doesn’t need to be compared or justified to be valid.
You’re allowed to grieve the path you didn’t take.
You’re allowed to miss what never happened.
You’re allowed to feel broken-hearted over a “what if.”
What I’ve learned—personally and professionally—is that healing doesn’t mean forgetting. It means learning how to carry it with more kindness. To honour what was lost without abandoning who you are becoming.
In therapy, this is the work we do together.
We create space for your story—not just the parts you can explain, but the ones that still ache in the dark. We gently tend to the longings, regrets, and silent goodbyes. We make room for both heartbreak and hope.
And slowly… we begin to rebuild.
You are not alone in this grief.
You are not too sensitive, too slow, or too broken.
You are human. And you are healing.
If your heart feels heavy with a life you thought you’d have, I want you to know:
💛 You are seen. Your grief is real. And you don’t have to carry it alone.
