Mirabai's poetry celebrates longing itself as holy and transformative, validating children's yearning for lost loved ones as spiritually significant rather than pathological.
Contemporary grief support sometimes pathologizes prolonged longing, treating continued yearning as a sign of 'failure to move on.' Mirabai offers a corrective: she made her longing for Krishna the center of her spiritual practice, singing about separation as sacred, beautiful, and transformative. For children, this validates what many feel but fear expressing—that missing someone is not a problem to solve but a genuine human response to love. Mirabai shows how longing can be channeled into creative expression: poetry, music, visual art, dance, writing. When a child learns that their ache for their grandmother, their friend, their parent is as worthy as Mirabai's devotional yearning, something shifts. The longing becomes less isolating and more connective—it's evidence of love, proof of the relationship's significance. Children who embrace longing as sacred often move from shame about their ongoing grief toward integration: they carry the longing forward as part of their identity, express it creatively, and allow it to deepen their capacity for love.
Peri can explain this concept, give practical examples, help you decide whether it applies to your situation, or recommend a journey if appropriate.
Explore related journeys or tell Peri what you're working through.