How do I grieve someone who is still alive but changing

This is one of the hardest griefs to name, because the person is right there—and yet not. Mirabai knew this. She loved Krishna so intensely that his absence while he lived became her whole spiritual practice. The grief you're feeling is real and deserves naming. What you're mourning is often the version of them you knew, or the future you imagined together. A parent losing their memory. A partner withdrawing into illness. A friend becoming someone you don't recognize. You're allowed to grieve both simultaneously: the person they are now, and the person they were. Here's what helps: Stop waiting for permission to feel sad. Anticipatory grief isn't disloyalty—it's love meeting reality. Write down specific memories of who they were. Tell them things you need to say now, if you can. And find someone who understands this particular loneliness. You don't have to perform normalcy while your heart is breaking in real time. The examined heart that Mirabai cultivated wasn't about forcing positivity. It was about feeling everything fully, without turning away. That's your permission slip.