Understanding and Managing Grief, March 3 - March 9, 2024

Best selections from Grief Healing's X feed this week:

Asking yourself about the grief process and overdoing this work is a great insight that is always good to examine. I hadn’t thought of the possibility of working so hard at grief that it could be a distraction from stepping into life, but it makes great sense and is a profound insight. The importance of taking time for 'recess' in the grief process « Taos News

I’m sure you have noticed a trend toward less use of both visitation and spending time with the body that once animated life. Yes, we continue to witness a trend toward shorter and shorter time frames of visitation and, all too often, no visitation at all. Affirming the Value of Elements of Meaningful Funerals « AfterTalk

When she learned that her mom's breast cancer would be terminal in December 2013, Forsythia used running and music as a way to cope. She'd play the pop ballad on repeat through the long cord of her headphones while she dashed back and forth from her home to a nearby park. The Healing Power of "Grief Runs" « Popsugar

There is a surprisingly large amount of research into why people are often more destroyed when we say goodbye to our dogs compared to when we lose our humans. The more I read, the more I understood. It’s a different love. It’s pure and unconditional and 100 per cent happiness. My dog’s death tore me up – the grief hit differently than when my mother and sister died « The Globe and Mail

Amy Lin, author of the memoir "Here After," on how the North American narrative of resilience traps grievers in a place where there's no space for them A Young Widow Rewrites the Conventional Narrative of Grief « Electric Lit

For people with serious health conditions, and even healthy older adults, Jimmy Carter’s use of hospice means a chance to discuss what they want their last years – and their death – to be like. It’s also a chance to clear up confusion about hospice and other end-of-life care. What experts wish more people knew about hospice and other end-of-life care « The Manchester Mirror

Grief is demanding. It doesn’t work within schedules or structures, try as you might to contain it. Grief is also changing the way I understand the world; how I prioritize; what moves me; how I spend my time; how I connect to other people; what I need from those around me and from those who love me. But no one sees this. The Invisibility Of Grief « Open to Hope

April Babcock and Virginia Krieger want to save other families from their pain with their advocacy group, Lost Voices of Fentanyl  Sisters in Grief After Losing Kids to Fentanyl « People

Having their parents put their wishes in writing made the heartbreaking experience of a parent’s death much easier for all four of them to navigate—because they had their parents’ wishes in writing. Voices of Experience: What You Want Your Loved Ones to Know When You Die « Grief Healing

Your feedback is welcome! Please feel free to leave a comment or a question, or share a tip, a related article or a resource of your own in the Comments section below. If you’d like Grief Healing Blog updates delivered right to your inbox, you’re cordially invited to subscribe to our weekly Grief Healing Newsletter. Sign up here.