Summer used to feel like freedom: favorite family trips, picnics, hikes, swinging, swimming, or just hanging out at the local park. But when you’ve experienced the death of someone you love, summer can feel… well, brutal. The very traditions that once brought joy can now carry sharp reminders of who’s missing. Maybe it was their grilled burgers, their awful camping jokes, or the way they insisted on watching fireworks in the same spot every year. Or perhaps it’s just that everyone else seems to be having a carefree summer while you’re quietly holding your pain.
You’re certainly not alone if this time of year stirs up a deep ache. One consolation of summer grief: nature—uncomplicated and very much alive in this season—can help with healing and offer grounding. It can’t fix your grief, obviously, but it can help you hold it.
Here are four ways (of many) to use nature as a healing companion:
1. Let the outside world reflect your inside world.
You don’t have to fake feeling okay under blue skies—for yourself or anyone else. Summer tends to bring a lot of dramatic weather, depending on where you live. Let the crashing waves, thunderstorms, or scorched heat reflect what you’re feeling. Nature’s conditions shift, and so will your feelings.
Try this: Go sit outside and name what the weather feels like emotionally. “This wind feels restless, just like me.” Or “This hot air feels heavy, like my sadness.” The landscape can seem to empathize with you and help carry the feelings.
It can be healing to simply watch waves crash and gently go back out to sea.
2. Start a gentle nature ritual.
You don’t need a big hike or camping trip to feel nature’s impact. Grief tends to make time feel weird and messy. A short, repeating ritual—even just stepping outside for five minutes each morning and putting your face towards the sun or listening for birds chirping—can offer a sense of rhythm.
Try this: Pick a specific tree, rock, or stretch of sky you visit at the same time each day. Let it witness your grief without trying to fix it. Say hello to it if it feels right, and know it will be waiting for you tomorrow.
3. Go where you feel held.
If the beach reminds you of family traditions that feel too raw, pick a new spot: a shaded trail, a quiet park bench—wherever feels calm. A place that doesn’t carry so many loaded memories. It can become your place, not the family’s place.
Try this: Find a “grief-free zone” outdoors, a space that feels neutral or comforting. Make it your personal place to cry, rage, breathe, write, or just be.
Find a quiet place in nature where you can lean back with no effort and be held.
4. Bring your person with you.
Grief isn’t about “moving on.” It’s about continuing a relationship in a new way. Invite your person into your natural moments.
Try this: Collect a stone or leaf that reminds you of them. Write their name in the sand. Speak their name out loud in the wind. Say what you wish you could say. There’s no wrong way to connect.
Nature helps us remember that growth still happens, even in grief. It’s not a pressure to heal faster—it’s a gentle reminder that change is natural, and you are part of that cycle.
Michelle Cove is the Communications Manager at Experience Camps. She is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, journalist, and national bestselling author whose projects have been featured on numerous national platforms including “The Today Show,” The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, and The New York Times. Visit www.michellecove.com to learn more.
