Grief + Joy Befriend
AJ Venturini explores how grief and joy are deeply interconnected in the process of personal transformation and collective liberation
By AJ Venturini
Commissioned by Molly Lipson
Grief and Joy Befriend explores how grief and joy are deeply interconnected in the process of personal transformation and collective liberation. Rooted in my queer, trans, and neurodivergent experiences, it reflects on the joy that comes from embracing intersecting identities, alongside the grief of letting go—whether it’s old versions of ourselves, relationships that no longer fit, or the pain of feeling unseen and misunderstood in a neurotypical world.
Through these pictures and words, I document the role of sacred objects, nature, and rituals as conduits to processing these emotions and the trauma of living under the medical model of disability. I hope this can offer a space to reflect on accessibility and everyday magic as pathways to freedom, supporting us in expressing ourselves and celebrating who we are becoming on our healing journeys.
~ quiet observation: to enter the forest is to enter the world of our hearts.
~ whispering: that moment when you lie down in nature and it is a relief [death].
i am an ever-evolving being, shaped by Water, fuelled by Fire,
guided by Spirit, and held by the Earth.
i allow myself to be born, again and again.
to be misunderstood again and again.
~ grief knocks and demands to run through me
first i tighten
i shrink
i brace myself in fear
next i despair
i call on the quiet of the woods,
the openness of the sky
i feel into the endless sacred well
i let my grief be carried through
i soften,
i let our grief bloom
i drink it,
as my medicine.
~ grief
contracting
exhaling
letting go
~ joy
softening
inhaling
allowing
~ grief + joy befriend
expanding
breathing
surrendering
~ in the quiet and overwhelming moments, objects
— small, sacred, overlooked —
murmur their deepest secrets,
our truths.
they form our altars,
they catch our grief,
cradle our joy,
witness our growth,
reflecting the beauty of who we are becoming.
as we walk through the unknown,
composting in the underworld,
growing above and so below,
they show us the way through the cracks
into the freedom of emptiness.
speaking my truth
knowing my ground,
letting myself feel it.
i am at peace:
rested,
grounded,
rooted,
in the depth of chaos,
in the spiral.
~ altars
our shared love
our shared grief.
cosy pockets where it is safe to be ourselves,
portals to unmask and let us be seen,
grounds for the liberation of all beings.
learning to listen
not just to the loud parts,
– the parts that scream for attention—
but to the softness,
the neutral spaces,
where intuition speaks.
this is the practice:
to sit with both the fire and the stillness,
and to know that both are the truth.
~ willing liberation into existence:
[repeat x3 times out loud, or as many times as it feels right]
i care and i am cared for.
my cup is full.
i am loved.
i belong.
i am free.
~
you care and you are cared for.
your cup is full.
you are loved.
you belong.
you are free.
~
we care and we are cared for.
our cups are full.
we are loved.
we belong.
we are free.
