My journey from grief to healing

4th April, 2010. I came out of a four-day silent retreat and switched on my phone. Eighteen missed calls. And one chilling SMS: Artemis, my cat, had gone missing.

I remember standing there, waiting for my ride home, feeling like I was in a dream I was about to wake up from. But the waking never came. For the weeks and months that followed, I walked a surreal, grief-soaked path — stomping through marshes, walking around at midnight with a food bowl, listening to squirrels chatter and wishing desperately that I could talk to them. Surely they knew where she was. I was in that place of profound vulnerability where you would do anything, believe anyone, and follow any lead just for a glimmer of hope.

Even now, after all these years, a part of me wonders if she will come back.

Artemis left behind her companion, Amadeus, who collapsed into grief the moment she was gone. He stopped eating. He stopped drinking. The veterinarian told me to prepare for the worst. I was not ready to lose him, too. And through that little crack, the world of Reiki and energy healing came thundering in. After just one session, I watched the light come back into Amadeus’ eyes. He began to eat. He began to live again.

I had spent twenty-five years building a career around precision, delivery, and accountability. And in one afternoon, a grieving cat and an energy healing session opened a door I did not know existed. I walked through it and never looked back.