Early in the pandemic I came across an article that truly named how we were all feeling. The article was written by Scott Berinato and it was titled That Discomfort You’re Feeling Is Grief. The article had come out at the start at the beginning of the global Covid-19 pandemic and it featured renowned grief expert, David Kessler speaking of the five stages of grief. These five stages include denial, anger, bargaining, sadness, and acceptance - which are part of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’ model and Kessler’s addition, which is finding meaning - in other words the meaning after the tragedy.
This article truly opened my eyes to the viewpoint that so much of the human experience is consumed in grief and that if we can name it, we can tame it. At the beginning of the pandemic, we were stuck at home isolating from friends and loved ones. We had no schools to send our children to and many of us were afraid to do something so “normal” and typical to our lives as simply frequent the neighborhood grocer.
In addition to grieving the losses of community members, we were grieving the normal in our lives. On the other side of this global pandemic, our lives our filled with a new normal, not even the old normal. Masks are still seen in many places, Telehealth is here to stay, cleaning has a new meaning, schools have a new level of appreciation, and our kids missed out - on so many aspects that have yet to be identified. The world mourned, the world grieved, and we did too in our every day lives.
This is why I have decided to become a Certified Grief Educator. Grief is part of the human experience, and I am looking to normalize it and support my clients through it.
View the article That Discomfort You’re Feeling Is Grief by Scott Berinato in the Harvard Business Review.
Find more information about grief at David Kessler’s website here. You may also find information on the Tender Hearts Community, an online Community of grievers.
Learn about the five stages of grief through the book, On Grief & Grieving, co-written by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and David Kessler, here.
To read about David Kessler’s sixth stage of grief, visit this site.
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