Community Grief & Gratitude Project: Opening Ritual

When: December 27, 1:oopm

Where: Boulder Creek Pedestrian Bridge

An invitation to the Boulder Community from the Grief & Gratitude Project

Let us share our grief and our gratitude. Between Friday December 27th, 2024, and Sunday January 12th, 2025, everyone in the community is invited to tie ribbons expressing your grief and gratitude on the railing of the pedestrian bridge across Boulder Creek west of Broadway.

Many of us are experiencing profound suffering and loss as another rough year comes to a close –  wars across the world, the devastations of gun violence, racism, opioid overdoses, loneliness and isolation, sickness and the loss of loved ones, wildfires and floods, species disappearing, and the biodiversity of our beautiful earth shrinking before our eyes.

It is through honoring and sharing our individual and collective grief that we sustain our resilience and create the energy and aliveness for what’s needed next – the energy to show up, connect, and create. It is equally important to share our gratitude for all that we have and all that has helped us get through these challenging times. Both are forms of love

Write what you are grieving for on a ribbon, or simply imbue the ribbon with your grief without using words. Share all that you mourn – create as many ribbons as you feel inspired to. And create more ribbons sharing your gratitude.

You can hang your ribbons any time until January 12th, the sooner the better. There will be two opportunities to gather:

• opening ritual Friday December 27th at 1pm

• closing ritual on Sunday January 12th at 1pm

Guidelines

Ribbons are provided at the bridge, and you may make your own ribbons from old sheets or other repurposed materials and bring them to the bridge. Art Parts is a great source for used ribbon. Ribbons should be about 3 feet long. Invite others in your community(s), including friends and family from outside Boulder, to join you.

If you want to create ribbons but can’t get to the bridge, please contact us and we can hang them for you. Email us at communitygriefandgratitude@gmail.com.

The website for the project can be found at https://communitygriefandgratitude.org/

On January 12, 2025 we will remove the ribbons. Ribbons from the past three years have been woven into spirals which we hope to have displayed.