There often aren’t enough words to describe the intense feeling of grief.

It’s complex, distinctly unique, and persistent. Not only that, but there’s simply no right or wrong way to grieve a loss – all we know is that the pain of it can strike at any moment, unexplained.

But one woman, Lauren Herschel, has shared an analogy told to her by her doctor, which many people have said perfectly explains what grief is really like.

It’s called the “ball in the box”.

“After what has been a surprisingly okayish Christmas, I had a moment today in SuperStore,” Herschel began on her Twitter account.

“Saw a lady who reminded me of my 92yo grandma, who even in the early stages of dementia, completely understood that my mom died. I thought I’d share the Ball in the Box analogy my Dr told me,” she wrote in a tweet that has recently resurfaced.

So grief is like this: There’s a box with a ball in it. And a pain button. And no, I am not known for my art skills. pic.twitter.com/XDwCCdXVkc

— Lauren Herschel (@LaurenHerschel) December 29, 2017

Right when the loss occurs, the ball is at its largest in size, inching up against the walls of the box and incidentally pushing the pain button.

In the beginning, the ball is huge. You can’t move the box without the ball hitting the pain button. It rattles around on its own in there and hits the button over and over. You can’t control it – it just keeps hurting. Sometimes it seems unrelenting. pic.twitter.com/Wcas2p4vab

— Lauren Herschel (@LaurenHerschel) December 29, 2017

But then, something happens. Time.

Over time, the ball gets smaller. It hits the button less and less but when it does, it hurts just as much. It’s better because you can function day to day more easily. But the downside is that the ball randomly hits that button when you least expect it. pic.twitter.com/fevAttojBg

— Lauren Herschel (@LaurenHerschel) December 29, 2017

Though the diagram is as uncomplicated as that, the analogy rang true for so many people on Twitter.

“It is SO accurate. I am a nurse and lost my grandpa in a very bad way last year and this is one of the first things I’ve read that completely matches my grief…” one Twitter user wrote in response.

“I think you did a great job boiling down grief into a very understandable thing that ‘makes sense’ to a lot of people,” praised another.

Herschel also revealed that her step father uses the analogy as a tool to describe not just his grief, but his day-to-day feelings and emotions.

“The Ball was really big today. It wouldn’t lay off the button. I hope it gets smaller soon. Slowly it is.”

Does the “ball in the box” analogy resonate with you? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.