Young Grief and Life Hangout 🤍

Let's talk life with grief. In English, in-person, in a café or other cool location around Vienna. Since there wasn't any English-speaking social event for young grievers around, we created one: the Young Grief and Life Hangout.

To be precise, we're a crossover between a support group and a community; we meet without a set agenda, with the gentle facilitation of a 29-year-old griever, who is also a trauma-informed coach*.

Welcome in ♡

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NEW DATES ARE ANNOUNCED REGULARLY. While you're waiting for the next event, find a resource guide on grief curated by the meetup host here: bit.ly/guideforgrievers ✎ᝰ. Please note that this is a private group and you need to join it to view all further info. To the readers: feel invited to hang out on my Substack-blog. Till we meet again, I also recommend you check out this online group with its monthly grief sessions with visualisations and body-based exercises: Grief support with Elena Winkelmann on Meetup.

Please read the group description before signing up.

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Are you aged between 18 and 39? Have you lost one or more dear human(s) of your life to death? Your loss doesn't have to be recent, and this is your place to be; literally to "be" . . . yourself. The Young Grief and Life Hangout takes place every two to three weeks, as an afterwork or after-one-more-day-survived. Shaped by participants, light and much more than sad.

UPDATE: Every 2-3 sessions now offer an all-griefs-welcome space. You haven't lost anyone to death? No 'problem', come!

A few characteristics of this group →

• A non-religious, science-based, independent space welcoming all and intentionally taking place in public locations (cafés + occasional excursions), while also exploring more quiet and private options. Since we're NO closed support group, you can join us anytime; keep in mind that attendees will vary from date to date. Topics are centered on participants' experiences of surviving and integrating grief. We will refrain from examining belief systems, also when it comes to paths forward and coping strategies, while we trust that everyone will find their way.

• A moderated conversation with an intro and outro round, a collection of topics, loads of life experience, playful prompts and helpful resources. With up to 10 participants and usually a cozier 3-6; should the group grow beyond this, we will consider a change in format.

• NO monologues, judgement, comparisons ("I've had it harder..", "At least.." etc.) or graphic depictions of traumatic events will be tolerated. We always ask for permission before giving advice — while the latter is frankly out of place, unless the participant has asked for it themselves. Instead, we speak from our own experience, in stories and challenges and solutions. We also make a conscious effort to avoid misgendering people, to open ourselves up to the diversity of griefs and lives and relationships out there, and to humbly learn from other people's perspectives. The facilitator reserves the right to take measures should any person disrupt the space, endanger its psychological safety or use discriminatory, exclusionary speech.

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🤔 But, why meet?

“Your grief is the emotional, cognitive, behavioral, spiritual, physical, existential experience that you will live after your loss. It won’t be the same for anyone else because no one feels, thinks, acts, wonders, worries, copes, or creates exactly the way you do.” (Eleanor Haley and Litsa Williams, in: What’s your Grief? Lists to help you through any loss 📚 ).

Yet, this doesn't mean that we should move through it all alone.

We all deserve to be around people who understand — who listen, who pay attention, and nod their heads when we talk about the never-again-normal surreality of life. Or about the friends we've lost touch with and the strangers who've helped, the memories, the workplace, the self-care, the feelings, the changes we didn't expect, the new versions of ourselves, the untrodden paths through life. Anything really.

There are people out there who will celebrate our little, determined steps. There's hope and deep-felt connection when we come together . . . And talk about life, with grief. We know: being human means feeling many emotions, at the same time. We can feel despairing and joyful, we can laugh and cry, we can live and grieve. This meetup's candid conversations hold everything that may come up. In between venting, exchanging coping strategies, sharing a favourite book, honoring memories, finding new friends.

Join us for safe(r) conversations.
And meaningful connections.
Cause home isn't a place, it's the people.

Bring your questions to fellow participants, if you have any.

Also bring your your savage stories from a grief-phobic world, your (dark) sense of humour, your piercing pain or your creative ideas.

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YOUR CHECKLIST >>>

✅ Ready to connect? Do check if this applies to you before signing up: You're 18+ years of age, have a relationship with grief either through death or through anything else, depending on whether you're joining a regular or an "all griefs welcome" event; you're also a self-reflected individual ready to engage with the grief of others (sometimes it can just feel too raw; it's easy to just join us and try it out and if it isn't a match — that's ok), bring willingness to contribute to the conversation through own experiences / stories / observations and are comfortable with English. This is an international group and all events will be held in English regardless of the people present. Pro tip: If all attendees understand German and you find yourself struggling to convey a complex topic in English, you can use German for that contribution.

🤔 Skeptical about discussing grief in a group? Here's some inspiration: First, do what feels right for you; this may not be for everyone. Second, learn about our key answer to the question: Isn’t grief to be relegated to the private? Well, "in a death- and grief-avoidant culture, a grieving person becomes the other to whom social structures cannot, and will not, relate—and that avoidance is truly tragic", writes bereaved mom, expert in traumatic grief, counsellor, founder and professor Joanne Cacciatore in Bearing the Unbeareable: Love, Loss, and the Heartbreaking Path of Grief. The meetup is out there to change that. If coming to the meet-up feels like work to you or something is making it hard for you to engage as you'd want to, then please approach the facilitator. In speaking or writing. We want this to be a place in which we can connect, unmask (our grief) and rest.

For the German-speakers / Für die Deutschsprachigen: Diese Trauergruppe ist explizit auf Englisch gehalten und bietet eine semi-strukturierte Moderation, tiefgründige Fragen, Zugang zu Büchern und Tools, und eine flexible Teilnahme ohne Bindung. Menschen aus unterschiedlichsten Ländern und Kulturen in Wien zusammenzubringen ist ein Kernanliegen.

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WHICH GRIEF NOW?? >>>

📙 Key definition: What do we mean by "grief"? When I started these meetups in summer 2024, the original purpose was to bring together people affected by bereavement, before or after losing someone dear to them to death; this decision is to be seen in the light of my grief, experience and capacity to hold space. Those currently navigating the lands of anticipatory grief, have always been welcome here! I've roamed those lands myself, and you deserve to be seen. I've also been very aware of the baggage of loss that can come with death; we're speaking of loss in memory, livelihood, language, identity, connection, home, safety, future, a witness to our lives or so much more. Now, 'grief' — as used in the vocabulary of our times — can be many things. As I've stepped my way out of the throes of early grief, I've decided to open up part of the meetups to those who've seen different griefs up close. Hence, there are now "all griefs welcome" editions. This is a bit of a figuring-it-out and transition phase for me, and we'll see where the journey takes us :)

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🤝 Our Group Rules: Please click "join" only if you're planning to be there. Spontaneous participation won't be accepted, also since we usually meet in public cafés and I reserve a table one day before the event. To allow us to plan and honor our energy, we ask you to avoid cancelling at the last minute unless, well, it's unavoidable. Coming on time allows us to start together, to get to know each other and figure out topics that might be most meaningful that day (no prob if you need to leave earlier or to take some space for yourself). The end time remains flexible. Keep an eye on the chat if you're not sure where to go.

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THE HOST AND THOSE LEGAL MATTERS >>>

🦸🏻‍♂️ About the organiser: Hi again! I'm Adriana, a young communications professional, writer, griever and community host with a trauma-informed coaching certification. I also have extensive experience in moderation, leadership, space-holding with groups and event organisation. The loss of my mum catapulted me into the depths of grief (first: its anticipatory version) — which then fuelled grief research, bold writing and big life change through the pain.

*I was trained as coach as well as received mentoring via the Canadian organisation Moving the Human Spirit. The training was and is accredited be the International Coaching Federation (ICF). I do not currently work as a coach in Austria. Instead, I let the training inform my volunteering.

Disclaimer: I'm NO mental health professional and do NOT offer therapy or counseling. The "Young Grief and Life Hangout" is a social event, not the marriage of a therapy couch and a vulnerability party. This means we'll be giving everyone a chance to speak and we'll move with the flow of conversation. You share what you want with the group, and nothing more. If you realize that the event is opening up deeper things requiring the attention of a trained professional, please talk with a support person or alternatively the meetup facilitator as a first stepping stone for recommendations & Co. Participation in this support group is voluntary and at your own risk. By joining, you agree to take care of your own well-being, needs and belongings.

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GET INVOLVED >>>

🗣 Feedback: Take a few minutes to share your thoughts and experiences so as to help me improve this community and its offerings (whether you're a regular or haven't managed to join so far). → To the anonymous form.

💸 Donations: If you want to support the event, its resources or any further work on grief, donate via PayPal or Revolut and get a big thank you (add 'grief meetup' or similar as a subject line; mind that PayPal has a fee!).

📬 Contact: You can reach me at via email at lifefeaturinggrief@gmail.com, should the messaging function of the meetup platform not be the right fit for you. All participants who've joined at least one event so far can stay in touch via our WhatsApp group; this is an optional offer. To forward a website to a friend, use this one.

PS: We're open to inputs on formats and location (exclusively outside of the time dedicated to the meetups), as long as we keep the conversation meaningful and stay independent from institutional structures. It’s important to us to mix grief and life; hence, we usually meet in cafés :)

-`♡´-

“Through the grief and the love we can hold our heads high—even in tears, even shattered. What’s ours is ours—and rightfully." (Bearing the Unbearable: Love, Loss, and the Heartbreaking Path of Grief)