Devotion as Structural Practice

Mirabai's life was structured around devotion: singing, dancing, praying, remembering Krishna. These weren't occasional activities but the skeleton of her existence. Anticipatory grief can collapse without structure; we become overwhelmed or numb. Devotional practice—whether to beauty, to the sacred, to the more-than-human world, to those we serve—provides the architecture that sustains us through loss. This is not about hope or healing. It's about showing up. It's about the daily practice that says: this matters, I am here, I bear witness. For some, this might be tending a garden. For others, it's community gathering, artistic creation, prayer, or service. The specific content matters less than the commitment. Mirabai teaches that devotion itself is freedom and purpose; it doesn't require a successful outcome. In anticipatory grief, devoted practice becomes our anchor—the thing that keeps us from dissolving into despair while remaining honest about what we face.