Death for dummies, pt 5: Grief
October is the spooky season and an excellent time for practicing memento mori. I’ll be sharing a death education feature each week this month. See the full series here.
Part 5: Grief
You may be familiar with the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. In addition, grief experts have named a sixth stage—finding meaning. While they can be a helpful framework, it’s important to understand that these “stages” are not linear. There is no prescribed path or expected timeline. Grief is unique to each person and loss.
Here are some resources I trust:
Megan Devine, author of It’s OK Not to Be OK and How to Carry What Can’t Be Fixed. Megan also created the video below on how to help a grieving friend.
Alicia Forneret, educator, consultant, and founder of PAUSE, a nonprofit to support Communities of Color in grief. Alicia also consults for employers who are navigating grief at work.
David Kessler, trainer and author of Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief.
How to Help a Grieving Friend (video below).
How to Write a Condolence Letter, New Yorker.
Peace to all who are going through this right now. 🖤
GIF by @jjjjjohn.