💔 Grace in the Grind: When Empowered Women Grieve and Still Keep Going

Empowered women are often seen as pillars of strength, leading teams, managing households, holding up communities, and championing others. But what happens when those same women are hit with profound loss? What happens when grief arrives, uninvited and all consuming, yet life still demands their presence?

The truth is, even the strongest women break. And sometimes, the most empowered among us are the ones grieving in silence while continuing to work, care, plan, nurture, and lead.

It doesn’t matter if the people around do not see it, YOU need to remember that grief has no time line and life does not pause for anyone. Loss comes in many forms, a parent, a partner, a child, a friendship, a dream and even a pet. The pain is personal, raw, and often invisible to the outside world. But bills still need to be paid. Children still need dinner. Emails still pile up. Clients still expect deliverables. Society rarely gives women the space to fall apart, especially when they are seen as "the strong ones" because we show up but often it’s not because we are strong, it is because we don’t know how to stop moving.

We are a duality, one that can function as both powerful and broken. Empowered women are not immune to sorrow. In fact, they often feel it more deeply, because their lives are so interconnected with responsibility. There’s often no room to crumble, even when every part of them is screaming to do exactly that.

Yet these women keep going, not because they don’t feel the pain, but because they’ve learned how to carry it while functioning. They parent. They serve. They lead. They grieve in stolen moments like in cars, showers, quiet corners of their minds, then return to the tasks that wait for them.

This post isn’t about “being strong” in the traditional sense. It’s about resilience, about learning to coexist with grief while still honoring what needs to be done. So, what does empowerment look like in times of grief? Empowerment during loss doesn’t mean pushing through without emotion. In its simplest form, it means:

• Asking for help, even when it’s hard

• Saying no to things that drain your energy

• Delegating responsibilities when possible

• Carving out space to feel, cry, or just be

• Giving yourself grace when the dishes pile up or the work isn’t perfect

• Choosing rest over productivity without guilt

Empowered doesn’t mean you are bulletproof. It means knowing your limits, being self-aware, and choosing what to carry and what to lay down for your own healing. Is there really such a thing as normalizing functioning with grief? I believe there is and in doing so, we need to create more compassionate environments for women to be both grieving and present without judgment. That means:

• If possible, choose a workplace that offers bereavement flexibility and mental health support

• Surround yourself with friends and family who check in without expecting performance

• Visit and or join in community spaces where grief can be spoken out loud, not hidden behind smiles

• Create a culture around yourself that celebrates humanity alongside hustle

Just remember, you are not alone. If you're a woman moving through grief while holding a family together, running a business, or simply showing up, you are seen. Your ability to keep going doesn’t mean you’re not in pain. It means you are courageous, even when life feels unbearably heavy.

Take the breaks. Cancel the plans. Let the tears fall. Do only what you can. That too is strength.

Finally, empowerment isn’t about never breaking. It’s about learning how to rebuild, piece by piece, breath by breath, even when the world keeps spinning. It’s about knowing that it’s okay to not be okay and that pausing does not make you any less powerful. You can be both a masterpiece and a work in progress, even in your mourning. (The first part of that final sentence is borrowed from a line once spoken by Sophia Bush, an actress and an activist)