“It is only by reflecting on the past that one can create a better future.”-Rithy Panh This is the last week of the 2020. What a year it has been. Many people suffered losses this year. On average fifty-six million people die a year (according to the World Death Clock). That leaves a lot ofContinueContinue reading “Monday Meditation: A Time for Reflection”
Tag Archives: grief in pandemic
Christmas 2020
2020 has been messy. That’s being kind. Christmas is right around the corner and the messiness continues as we move to celebrate in ways that deviate from years past. Traditions have been paused for a year and we’ve had to become creative about how we celebrate at a distance. Christmas 2020 Last year, we didn’tContinueContinue reading “Christmas 2020”
Monday Meditation: Endure the Calamity
“Every calamity is to be overcome by endurance.”-Virgil From a practical perspective, we can get through any struggle. From an emotional perspective, getting through struggles without cracking is hard. Humans are made from pretty strong material that can weather a lot. However, our society has grown to favor instant gratification and instant relief from suffering.ContinueContinue reading “Monday Meditation: Endure the Calamity”
Monday Meditation: Free to Walk Away
“Our freedom can be measured by the number of things we walk away from.”-Vernon Howard Grief can make us feel confined, stuck, frozen in place. The restrictions put upon us during this pandemic may exacerbate those feelings, especially while grieving. Rather than look at the way in which grief (and life) have shrunk because ofContinueContinue reading “Monday Meditation: Free to Walk Away”
Monday Meditation: A Calming Place
“A calming place, where you can go to escape it all and just focus on your body, is so wonderful to have.”-Mary Helen Bowers To focus on yourself, on your self-care, and on your body’s needs, you must have a calming place to which you can retreat. However, ongoing pandemic restrictions make this difficult. ThisContinueContinue reading “Monday Meditation: A Calming Place”
8 Ways to Take Life Slowly While Grieving During a Pandemic
Social distancing slows life down for us and changes what we consider normal. We may feel lazier and more unproductive than usual when we actually aren’t. During isolation, there aren’t many chances for big or impulsive decisions, like job changes or moves. Financial matters may become more urgent, deliberate, and purposeful, especially if you’re unemployedContinueContinue reading “8 Ways to Take Life Slowly While Grieving During a Pandemic”
7 Ways to Cultivate Inner Stillness While Grieving in Isolation
Cultivating inner stillness while grieving during a pandemic is difficult. However, finding stillness is necessary when processing grief and adapting to post-loss life. One way to approach the search for stillness is by taking a break from the hustle and bustle of everyday work and home responsibilities. When you are sheltering-in-place during a pandemic, thereContinueContinue reading “7 Ways to Cultivate Inner Stillness While Grieving in Isolation”
Monday Meditation: Waiting with Patience
Patience is not simply the ability to wait–it’s how we behave while we’re waiting.-Joyce Meyer Self-isolation and social distancing require a great deal of patience. We have to wait out the run of a highly communicable virus. We have to wait out a difficult economic situation. We have to wait out loneliness. If we’re grieving,ContinueContinue reading “Monday Meditation: Waiting with Patience”
Release Guilt
After a loss, you may wonder if you did enough for your loved one, if you were nice enough, if you spent enough time with them. In their book I Wasn’t Ready to Say Goodbye, Brook Noel and Pamela D. Blair call this the “ ‘If Only’ game,” a mind game grievers play to controlContinueContinue reading “Release Guilt”
Monday Meditation: Living in Fishbowls
No one can feel as helpless as the owner of a sick goldfish.-Kin Hubbard In a state of social distancing, we are living in a type of fishbowl, and sometimes a fishbowl within a fishbowl. We can’t do anything for our loved ones who are languishing from COVID-19. We can’t do anything for our familyContinueContinue reading “Monday Meditation: Living in Fishbowls”
Virtual Connections and Grieving During COVID-19
In my forthcoming book, Untangling Life After Loss: A Griever’s Guide to Creating a Self-Care Plan, I offer suggestions for how to approach grief in your everyday life. COVID-19 has turned many of those suggestions sideways as social distancing measures throw a curve into what could be termed “normal” grieving processes. An experience that onceContinueContinue reading “Virtual Connections and Grieving During COVID-19”
Mourning in a Time of Social Distance
It’s the first full week of “social distancing,” a new term in our lexicon that basically means “stay away from people,” in this case, by staying at home. While the death toll around the world increases, it’s easy to see where an observation about grief might fit. People are dying from a new and thereforeContinueContinue reading “Mourning in a Time of Social Distance”