Notes On Grieving In A Pandemic -Are We Mastering Grief?

We often think of the period when we are living through a pandemic, that a new normal is being created for us to step into and live differently ever after. The truth though, is that the new normal we are often anticipating is not without context, and the period of the pandemic is often a period of looking into a magnifying glass for really long time, which the ills in our society become more amplified, and the inherent socio-cultural problems become entrenched.

Grieving is such an intimate act. It is a lot of work, and lot of letting go, all at once. Of course, it evokes emotion. It is an important part of healing from the loss of someone or some-thing, where its absence leaves a gaping hole in the heart where their physical presence or their emotional presence could have occupied. Grief can be cold, lonely and completely distabilising – well, more debilitating than distabilising. Other times, I suppose, the gentleness of the memories makes it light.