We're in This Together

We've lost two beloved celebrities this week. I don't always feel grief when someone famous dies. This time I do. Dolly was a bright light in our world and both she and Tim were ever present in the background of my life. Whether you feel sadness or grief over their passing or not, it's normal. Whatever you feel or don't feel is okay. But I wanted to talk about the way we are experiencing communal grief. Particularly around the death of Dolly. She was universally loved and seeing the multitude of tributes from such a wide variety of people is touching and encouraging. Seeing unity, even over something as sad as this, is lovely. It gives us the bolstered feeling of knowing we aren't alone in our pain. In our culture we usually grieve alone. Even family members often grief separately and in isolation.

Cultures throughout time and all over the globe have known the power of grieving together. They've recognized the strength they receive from one another. They're better able to process their grief when they come together and even practice grief rituals together. These rituals bind them together in community and fellowship.

These deaths have drawn us together, even if briefly, as we share with one another what these people meant in our lives and we process our pain with others. This is how grief is meant to be experienced. This is why I offer space for people to grieve in my presence, but also am training to offer group grief rituals so that we can process our personal pain in community.