How We Carry Our Grief

Guest post by Padma Lakshmi

How do we carry our grief? Grief is not something we conquer or move past; it's something we learn to live with. It wraps around us like a heavy cloak, and with time, we find ways to carry it more gently. Padma Lakshmi's wisdom reminds us that instead of resisting or ignoring grief, we can wrap it around our shoulders, embrace it, and allow it to become part of who we are.

Healing doesn't mean the pain disappears, it means we grow around it, learning to move forward while still honouring the love we've lost. Grief doesn't define us, but it shapes us into stronger, more grace to heal.

“I got my period when I was 13 and didn’t get diagnosed until I was 36. That’s 23 years, 12 months a year, 12 weeks from, you know, that I was missing at volleyball practice, the school dance, midterm exams, helping my mom cook the family meal,” she said. “All these things that’s part and parcel of being a teenage kid.”

At 49, Lakshmi said she’s found some relief with her symptoms. “I’m getting older, and so my hormones are calming down, so I don’t suffer as much as I used to. So, my endometriosis doesn’t affect me nearly as much as it did before when I was in my 30s or in my 20s.

In fact, her experience with endometriosis inspired her to co-found the Endometriosis Foundation of America alongside her endometriosis specialist Tamer Seckin, M.D. The foundation’s goal is to strive “to increase disease recognition, provide advocacy, facilitate expert surgical training, and fund landmark endometriosis research.”