Educator Ursula Darby leads “When Life Changes: A Workshop in Healing” on April 2

Are you grieving a loss? A loved one, a relationship, a job, a version of yourself? Or maybe someone close to you is struggling, and you’re not sure how to help?

Grief isn’t just about funerals and black suits. According to certified grief educator Ursula Darby, it’s woven into the fabric of everyday life—quietly showing up in moments of transition, upheaval, or even quiet disappointment. And for many, it goes unrecognized, unspoken, and unresolved.

That’s exactly why Darby is inviting the community to “When Life Changes: A Workshop in Healing”—a two-hour, interactive session taking place April 2 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Silence Sounds, 46 Essex Street in Guelph.

“People don’t recognize or identify grief in their lives, and I’ve watched so many suffer from the narrative they tell themselves,” says Darby. “I interrupt that and help them to understand.”

This workshop isn’t therapy. It’s connection. It’s insight. It’s about having a safe space to acknowledge the hard stuff, ask the awkward questions, and—most importantly—listen.

Because here’s the truth: most of us are grief-illiterate.

Darby has spent over 21 years guiding people through loss, and she’s seen it all—from those mourning a person to those mourning possibilities. Lost careers, health scares, breakups, estranged friendships, aging—grief wears many disguises. And ignoring it? That’s like putting duct tape over a smoke alarm.

“We don’t heal in isolation,” Darby says. “We heal in our communities, with people who are willing to sit in the discomfort with us.”

The workshop is designed for anyone—those directly grieving, and those supporting someone who is. Darby emphasizes that healing doesn’t require grand gestures. It starts with being present. With asking, “Do you want to talk about your person?” and being okay with whatever the answer is.

“The most powerful, compassionate thing you will ever do is listen,” she says. “You don’t have to fix it. You don’t have to make it about you. Just witness them. That’s healing.”

If this sounds like unfamiliar territory, you’re not alone. Darby hears it all the time: “I feel uncomfortable. I don’t know what to say.” But that’s exactly what she’s here to change. Through storytelling, shared experience, and practical tools, attendees will leave with a better understanding of what grief actually is—and what it isn’t.

Darby’s training comes from renowned grief expert David Kessler (grief.com), and she hopes this is only the beginning. She has plans to speak with seniors, hospice patients, survivors of abuse, and university students—anyone who needs support navigating profound life shifts.

Because grief doesn’t discriminate. And it doesn’t come with a user manual.

“This work lights me up,” Darby says with a smile. “It’s my honour to help people feel seen. No one should ever have to carry grief in silence.