Not too long ago, an individual my family has known for many, many years passed away. This certain person wasn’t technically our own family, but may as well have, and we were and remain to be rather saddened to learn of their passing.
After I heard the news, I started thinking about death. I realize that sounds a tad morbid, but allow me to clarify that I wasn’t thinking about my own death, but rather death itself as a concept and its ascertainable link to grief. Further, I was pondering grief and how we all navigate it differently, which is something I find to be rather intriguing.
Death is inevitable in our life. We will, guaranteed, experience death in some way, shape or form, whether it be losing someone we love or our own passing one day. Despite the inexorability of death and its connection to grief, though, it is interesting to acknowledge how we all cope with it in different ways.
I certainly do not believe there is a right or wrong way to grieve. It is an entirely subjective process, and I imagine it differs based on the source prompting the grief in question. We would arguably grieve to a more severe extent with the loss of someone near and dear to our heart as opposed to an acquaintance, hence why the grieving process would vary depending on who or what is being mourned.
There isn’t a timeline or a designated outline to navigate the ins and outs of death and grief, nor should there ever be. Grief cannot be measured, evaluated or planned out; it occurs when we allow it to, and some of us are more receptive to the sensation of grief than others, which is an understandable observation. Sometimes, we refrain from grieving because we do not wish to be vulnerable to our emotions and permit ourselves to mourn.
Death and grief are two interconnected yet simultaneously complex constants in life, and it is worth recognizing the intricacies of both.
ontheedgeofeverything 