I'd like to talk about grief. I'm currently experiencing it now after my Mom passed away, and I miss her deeply. I see grief as a multi-stage process, one that each person navigates in their own unique way. After years of intense caregiving and advocacy, I feel exhausted and somewhat disconnected, as though I’m not quite ready to let go of my role. This past week, I obviously haven’t visited, just like that Christmas when COVID kept me away for three weeks. I recognize that denial is often the first stage of grief... a place where reality feels distant, and acceptance still seems out of reach.
Here is a summary of this:
"Denial is the first of the five stages of grief™️. It helps us to survive the loss. In this stage, the world becomes meaningless and overwhelming. Life makes no sense. We are in a state of shock and denial. We go numb. We wonder how we can go on, if we can go on, why we should go on. We try to find a way to simply get through each day. Denial and shock help us to cope and make survival possible. Denial helps us to pace our feelings of grief. There is a grace in denial. It is nature’s way of letting in only as much as we can handle. As you accept the reality of the loss and start to ask yourself questions, you are unknowingly beginning the healing process. You are becoming stronger, and the denial is beginning to fade. But as you proceed, all the feelings you were denying begin to surface."