💌 Dear Friends of the California Grief Center,

In a world split by shadow and glare, where hate flickers in headlines and hearts—we choose another path.

We come together to shine.
To name the dark aloud.
To remind one another: love belongs.

This week, with hearts steady, we offer spaces to gather, to grieve, to get unstuck—and to remember the deeper light we are called to tend.

🔦 In This Issue

• 🕊️ Reflection: The Power of Loving Day

• 💥 Grief 101: Profanity, Fricatives & the Age of F*ck

• 🎭 Catharsis Theater for Actors (In-Person – LA)

• 🗳️ Holding Space for Political Grief (Virtual)

• 🕯️ June HOPE Group: Mindfulness for Silent Pain (Virtual)

• 🌊 What We Offer at the California Grief Center

❣️ Mildred Loving & The Quiet Power of Love

Some women love—and the whole country shifts.

Mildred Loving was one of them.

A young Black woman in rural Virginia, she married the man she loved—Richard Loving—at a time when their union was illegal in 16 U.S. states.

They didn’t set out to make history. They simply wanted to live as husband and wife.

Their quiet courage sparked Loving v. Virginia, the 1967 Supreme Court case that struck down anti-miscegenation laws across America. Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote:

Last week, June 12 was Loving Day—a celebration of love’s triumph over hate.

✅ The right to marry across race lines
✅ The quiet dignity of two people standing for love
✅ A legacy that grows—1 in 5 newlyweds in the U.S. are now in interracial marriages

Mildred Loving reminds us:
Love is not loud. It is steadfast.
It does not need permission. It does not yield to unjust laws.
And though it may take time—love prevails.

👉 Learn more → LovingDay.org

❓ Grief 101: Profanity, Fricatives & the Age of F*ck (Content Warning)

Why “fuck” feels so good—and why it helps move grief.

At CGC, we honor the full range of how grief is felt—and expressed.

• Grief is a full-body experience. Words can help feelings move.

• Swearing—especially fuck—is often a healthy, helpful release.

• The word matches grief’s shape: tension → openness → release

🧠 The Anatomy of the Word

F = friction (fricative) — strikes the match
U = openness — gives body and voice to feeling
CK = plosive — a sudden release; a verbal punch

Why It Matters

• In grief, people need real language—not polite patterns

• Swearing can cut through numbness and reclaim vitality

• Saying fuck while grieving isn’t failure — it’s human

In this Age of Fuck—as we grieve the personal and collective—remember:
Sometimes one four-letter word holds more truth than a thousand polite ones.

At CGC, we welcome it all:
Profanity • Politeness • Silence • Sobs • Laughter
Whatever helps the feeling move.

🎭 Catharsis Theater for Actors Only (In-Person – Los Angeles)

The Role You Were Born to Reclaim

🗓️ Sunday, June 22
⏰ 1:00–4:30 PM PT
📍 The Blue Door Theater, Culver City
🎟️ Limited to ~40 actors — will sell out!
🎙️ Led by Brian Stefan, LCSW & Peter Tussey, MSW

🎭 Why Now: The Actor’s Grief and The Crisis Behind the Curtain

The strikes have ended, but the silence lingers.
Auditions are fewer, roles feel hollow, and the industry is still reeling from collapse, contraction, and climate anxiety.

Actors are grieving — but no one’s naming it.

At Catharsis Theater, we do.

This is a space to transmute the heartbreak of being an artist right now. To name the losses. To reinhabit the body. To reclaim the story.

You were never just here to perform.
You were here to feel, to reveal, to transform.

💡 What You Can Expect:

• A warm, emotionally safe container

• Group exercises in story, spontaneity, and self-expression

• The chance to witness — or become — the “protagonist”

• Real stories. Real transformation. Real catharsis.

💵 Shared Proceeds: Honoring Emotional Labor

Two actors will be chosen by the group to become protagonists.
They’ll receive 50% of all donations collected at the door.

This is not a fee. It’s a radical act of respect for the emotional labor of stepping into the light.

🗳️ Holding Space for Political Grief (Virtual)

Rooted Together: A Support Space for Communities in Crisis

This free weekly group is for anyone in a helping role—first responders, last responders, and everyone in between. That includes:

• Social workers, therapists, grief counselors

• Nurses, doctors, death doulas, chaplains

• Peer specialists, community workers, educators

• EMTs, firefighters, ER staff, and many more

🗓️ Wednesday, June 18
⏰ 1:00–2:00 PM PT
📍 Zoom | 💸 Free
🎙️ Facilitated by Brian Stefan, LCSW + NASW-CA Chapter Leaders

🕯️ June HOPE Group (Virtual)

Mindfulness Tools for Silent Pain & Deep Sorrow

🗓️ Saturday, June 28
⏰ 10–11:30 AM PT / 1–2:30 PM ET
💸 Donation-Based
🎙️ Facilitated by Brian Stefan & Mariela Bravo

This space is for those carrying silent pain, moving through sorrow, or seeking a pause to return to breath, body, and presence.

🌊 What We Offer at the California Grief Center

Grief is not a problem to fix. It is a presence to honor.

We offer:

💬 Individual Therapy & Grief Counseling (nationwide)
 👥 Healing Groups
🎭 Catharsis Theater — our signature experiential workshops

📞 Schedule a free consult or refer someone today
🌐 www.caligrief.com

With heart,
Brian Stefan, LCSW
Founder, California Grief Center
🕊️ Facing the hurt—together.

P.S. Know someone who could use this? Forward it along.
Invite them to visit www.caligrief.com — everyone belongs here.