Have you ever been 'gripped/overcome/consumed with/by grief'?

Greif is a huge concept compacted into a small yet highly emotive word.

We describe grief as a process. Someone can be consumed by grief, gripped with grief and grief can be said to overcome a person. All very full and weighty concepts suggesting total immersion by this thing called grief.

Greif can be said to drive us and even cause us to do things.

What is this thing called grief?
In what way would you describe the impact grief has had on you physically, emotionally – spiritually?
What is this grief we all experience at some point in our lives?

What is your personal relationship with the experience of grief (not so much the reason for the greif – more your actual body and mind reaction to experiencing grief)

I ask this because I wastold today that I am in a grieving ‘process’ and as I tend to process emotions with my mind easier then my heart I thought I would begin with greif as a physically felt concept.

Thank you