--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Complicated Grief was written in larger…" description: "\"Complicated Grief was written in larger and more coherent (if disparate) shapes. The question was how they fit together. The mind is coherent, trust th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06e/laura-mullen-16442_advice_complicated-grief-was-written-in-larger_967720.jpg" --- # Complicated Grief was written in larger and more coherent… ![“Complicated Grief was written in larger and more coherent (if disparate) shapes. The question was how they fit together. The mind is coherent, trust that was the best writing advice I ever got (I got it from Carole Maso and I pass it on). It's true, and clearer and clearer as one grows and gains…” quote by Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06e/laura-mullen-16442_advice_complicated-grief-was-written-in-larger_967720.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06e/laura-mullen-16442_advice_complicated-grief-was-written-in-larger_967720.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06e/laura-mullen-16442_advice_complicated-grief-was-written-in-larger_967720.jpg) > “Complicated Grief was written in larger and more coherent (if disparate) shapes. The question was how they fit together. The mind is coherent, trust that was the best writing advice I ever got (I got it from Carole Maso and I pass it on). It's true, and clearer and clearer as one grows and gains an improved sense of who one actually is (as versus who one was supposed to be).” [Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage reflects on how personal growth clarifies identity, making one’s true self emerge distinct from imposed expectations. **In simple terms:** Growth reveals true self beyond expectations. Key Takeaway Embrace self‑discovery. Themes identity growth self‑awareness reflection Mood introspective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - therapy - journaling - career planning - relationship counseling Key Concepts psychology personal development authenticity Questions to Reflect On - How have you changed your self‑perception over time? - What expectations limit your authenticity? A Different Perspective Self‑knowledge can be painful and may conflict with social roles. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Advice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/advice/) [Complicated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complicated/) [Complicated grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complicated-grief-35873/) [Fit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fit/) [Gains](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gains/) [Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) [Grief Written](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief-written-1836402/) [Grows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grows/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Mind Coherent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind-coherent-1836403/) [Shapes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shapes/) [Supposed to be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/supposed-to-be/) [Together](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/together/) [Versus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/versus/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing advice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-advice/) [Written](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/written/) ## Related quotes > [With Complicated Grief I can say that there was a certain simplification in the process. Getting older means less wasted effort, things are clearer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/with-complicated-grief-i-can-say-that-there-was-a-certain/) [Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) > [Miss Havisham is a glitch in the smooth functioning of the Patriarchy, enforcing awareness of a moment of social disaster and personal shame, something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/miss-havisham-is-a-glitch-in-the-smooth-functioning-of-the-patriarchy/) [Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) > [The most important aspect of writing the pieces that make up this eighth book was yielding to my obsessive side, letting my own "complicated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/the-most-important-aspect-of-writing-the-pieces-that-make-up-this/) [Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) > [And Complicated Grief is a text that announces, from the start, in its citation of influence, dense intertextuality and hybridity, a failure of some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/and-complicated-grief-is-a-text-that-announces-from-the-start-in-its/) [Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) > [To mourn is to wonder at the strangeness that grief is not written all over your face in bruised hieroglyphics. 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You can't edit a blank page.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/you-can-always-edit-a-bad-page-you-can-t-edit-a-blank-page/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [“The sooner you finish procrastinating, the sooner you can get back to your art.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-lennox/the-sooner-you-finish-procrastinating-the-sooner-you-can-get-back-to/) [Stephanie Lennox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-lennox/) > [“But let the wise be warned against too great readiness at explanation: it multiplies the sources of mistake, lengthening the sum for reckoners sure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-let-the-wise-be-warned-against-too-great-readiness-at-explanation/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“The best kind of praise is intelligent praise.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-heffington/the-best-kind-of-praise-is-intelligent-praise/) [Rachel Heffington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-heffington/) ## More by Laura Mullen > [Oh my research. Well, I got an English Degree. And I got that degree in a certain time/at a certain place. If you add…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/oh-my-research-well-i-got-an-english-degree-and-i-got-that-degree-in/) [Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) > [The boundary between expert and amateur was an imposed social-cultural "protection" which actually exposed a number of women to a fatal disease, because decaying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/the-boundary-between-expert-and-amateur-was-an-imposed-social/) [Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) > [In Frankenstein there is a transfer first of life into death (in the creation and animation of the monster), and then of death into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/in-frankenstein-there-is-a-transfer-first-of-life-into-death-in-the/) [Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) > [Is it possible that where the subject is socially approved (tah tah tah TAH tah, it's war) almost no one thinks we're "stuck," but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/is-it-possible-that-where-the-subject-is-socially-approved-tah-tah/) [Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) > [There's a case in Baton Rouge, haunting me, where a mother left her twelve-year-old daughter to be babysat (every day for months) by a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/there-s-a-case-in-baton-rouge-haunting-me-where-a-mother-left-her/) [Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) > [Admitting how ill we are, how deep the damage goes, how constantly the abuse cycle is repeated and how horribly we have failed those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/admitting-how-ill-we-are-how-deep-the-damage-goes-how-constantly-the/) [Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) > [It seems all "protection" has to be monitored, considered, weighed and justified - I am suggesting we do that (but it's something Mary Shelley…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/it-seems-all-protection-has-to-be-monitored-considered-weighed-and/) [Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) > [In the "Intervention" section of the book we go into that looping from a battery of positions (where healer and sufferer are blurred). I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/in-the-intervention-section-of-the-book-we-go-into-that-looping-from/) [Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) > [And Complicated Grief is a text that announces, from the start, in its citation of influence, dense intertextuality and hybridity, a failure of some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/and-complicated-grief-is-a-text-that-announces-from-the-start-in-its/) [Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) > [Maybe one way to think about it would be in the context of the historical development of germ theory. The problem of childbed fever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/maybe-one-way-to-think-about-it-would-be-in-the-context-of-the/) [Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) > [Star Wars film is breaking all previous box office records. 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And once it's gone, there's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/time-is-priceless-you-have-it-but-you-don-t-own-it-you-spend-it-but/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You don't need to take a persons advice to make him feel good, just ask him for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-j-peter/you-don-t-need-to-take-a-persons-advice-to-make-him-feel-good-just/) [Laurence J. Peter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-j-peter/) > [Some of the things that we hold onto the most, are the things that we need to let go of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryaj-ablando-catayas/some-of-the-things-that-we-hold-onto-the-most-are-the-things-that-we/) [Ryaj Ablando Catayas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryaj-ablando-catayas/) > [“If your clothes are enough to drive would-be friends away, they're not the kind of friends you want." Typical mother advice. 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