The Day I Learned Why I Couldn’t Outwork My Grief

How We Navigate Grief with Blair · Jan 22, 2026 · 6m

For most of my life, effort was my coping mechanism.

If something hurt, I worked harder.If something scared me, I stayed busy.If something broke my heart, I built something beautiful on top of it and called that healing.

And for a long time, that strategy worked. Or at least, it worked well enough to fool me.

I built companies. I launched projects. I showed up for everyone. I checked every box that society rewards when it comes to “being strong.” It was productive grief. High functioning grief. The kind that people praise.

But grief has a way of pulling the rug out from under even the most…