Grief is not a 4-letter word…
But it feels like maybe it should be. You and I, we’re feeling LOTS of feels right now. I don’t know about you, but I have myself a good cry every couple of days, even though sometimes I have no idea why the heck I’m crying. People wiser than me tell me that it’s actually different grief for things big and small.
Yup… the world has changed big time. Yes, we know this is temporary, but it doesn’t feel that way, and we realize things will be forever different. The loss of normalcy; the fear of economic toll; the loss of connection. This is hitting us and we’re grieving. Collectively. And we are just not used to this kind of collective grief in the air.
We’re also feeling anticipatory grief, AKA anxiety. It’s that weird feeling you get about what the future holds when you’re uncertain. Usually, it centers on death. We feel it when someone gets a dire diagnosis or when we have the normal thought that we’ll lose a parent someday. It’s the feeling that there’s a storm coming. There’s something bad out there. With this dang virus, this kind of grief, this anxiety, is so confusing! Our monkey mind knows something bad is happening, but we can’t put a finger on what IT is. It makes us not feel safe, not just for ourselves and the people we love, but for the community and the world. This is so new and so raw. So I reached out to one of our Soul Care partners who is intimate with the ways of grief for a Soul Chat to help provide more thoughts on this topic and resources to help us with the grief and anxiety we are all feeling. Listen to my interview with Melanie from Threshold End of Life Doula Services where she talks about how we are all facing and dealing with grief at different levels during this time of coronavirus, and yes…even trying to avoid the grief. She shares about how you can express grief in healthy ways and the importance of being seen, heard, and supported. You’re gonna love her soothing voice and calm presence!
Watch the video below to hear more and join us at one of the grief events we’ll be having each Wednesday, at least through May.
