Seeing Grief as a Spiritual Cycle
When we experience a loss in our life, grief is the natural response to the loss. The five stages of grief are the phases of grief that most people experience. The five stages are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. The stages can occur in different order and some stages may occur simultaneously. The way that grief is experienced by different people varies greatly and allowing people to have their own experience encourages greater emotional health for communities. It is essential not to repress grieving process so that the loss becomes fully integrated. This allows the person experiencing loss to move fully back to the present moment.
For a recovering individual, anger as the stage of grief may require may require heightened awareness and potentially therapeutic support. Anger is a cautionary emotion for addicts as it can lead to relapse. Yet, it is also a natural emotional response to loss. Those in recovery need to be mindful about excessive stewing in anger as they experience this stage of grief. However, this mindfulness must be tempered with the understanding that grief and all of its stages, including anger, are experienced uniquely by different individuals.
Loss and the accompanying grief are not wished upon anyone, but there is profound beauty in the grieving process in response to loss. As an individual goes on this journey of releasing and rebirthing, there is often a renewal within themselves for life. In some cases, they rediscover appreciation for all that they do have and love, or a new vision of life springs forward. There may be a passion project that is born in response to the loss. In the cases of deep grief, a person who normally is emotionally contained may need to lean heavily on those around them. This deepened intimacy in response to grief may evolve relationships to a deeper place of connection that continue beyond the grieving process.
Appreciate what may come forward from a grief journey while also honoring the difficulty of the experience. As with ancient tribes preparing for the coming winter during the summer harvest, build your community knowing that this process visits everyone. While in Winter, trust that Spring will always return. The emotional abundance of Spring will be vastly shaped vastly by the way that you prepared for Winter.
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