About Gus: Your Companion in the Jungle

Gus isn’t an expert with all the answers. He’s a blue gorilla who understands that grief is a heavy thing to carry alone. In the wild, gorillas are known for their deep family bonds and their quiet, powerful presence. Gus lives in a lush, sun-dappled jungle that represents the landscape of the heart—sometimes beautiful and peaceful, other times tangled and difficult to navigate.

Why a Gorilla?

Grief can feel “big.” It can feel wild, unpredictable, and heavy. Gus is big enough to hold space for those feelings. He doesn’t ask you to “cheer up” or “move on.” Instead, he sits with you in the quiet, smelling the rain or feeling the soft moss, reminding you that it is okay to just be.

What Gus Believes:

  • Presence Matters: You don’t always need words; sometimes you just need someone to sit on a stump beside you.

  • The Jungle is Shared: No one should have to find their way through the thicket of loss without a friend.

  • Small Moments are Big: Finding beauty in a sweet fruit or the warmth of the air is a brave act of healing.

A Friend for the Journey

Whether you are navigating a recent loss or carrying a “heavy heart” from years ago, Gus is here to remind you that your feelings are valid, your memories are precious, and you are never truly alone in the jungle.

We don’t get over it; we just learn the paths of the jungle a little better every day.

The Human Behind the Gorilla

Gus, the Grief Gorilla is a project conceived and curated by poet and filmmaker Maryann Manelski. Rooted in her long-standing work exploring the landscape of loss, Gus was created to offer a gentler, more visual way to sit with the heavy experience of grief.  Maryann realized that sometimes the hardest parts of life are easier to talk about through the eyes of a gentle friend and created Gus to provide the kind of quiet, non-judgmental support we all need when the jungle of grief feels too thick to navigate.

Sometimes on social media when she is acting as a narrator or field guide for Gus, she will post as “Willow Stone.”

As a writer, I saw a need for a companion like Gus—someone who doesn’t offer ‘fixes,’ but offers presence.