Grief is a way of honoring the painful experiences and losses that we have encountered in our lives. We may have lost a loved one or experienced a change in life that feels like a loss. Processing grief can help us acknowledge the important roles that people and things have played in our lives. Everyone experiences grief in their own way. Some people are open about grief and share their pain with others. Other people may feel that grief is personal and deal with grief privately. Funerals and burial services are ways in which we can put our loved ones to rest in an experiential way. When we take time to put action into the grieving process, we can learn to deal with loss and to let things go.
Sometimes, grief takes a more abstract form. We may have lost a relationship or a job. We may move to a different city or end a close friendship. While we use burials and funerals to move on from the passing of a loved one, we can also use ritual ways to move on from other losses. Here are two ways that we can grieve other losses in life:
- Write a letter and destroy it: For some losses, there can be no way of burying what we have lost. We can write a private letter about the experience and then destroy or hide it away to move on. For example, we might be dealing with the end of a friendship. Losing friendships can be tough, but sometimes our closest friends can be detrimental to our growth. Writing a letter to our friend and not sending it can help us get our emotions out.
- Focus on a new skill or healthy practice: Loss can affect our mental health. Sometimes we can turn our energy to something new to focus on. Putting our energy into a new exercise routine or a new hobby can help us process our grief.
Grief is a unique process that people experience differently. Some of us may need to put our grief into some kind of real-world activity to deal with our loss. We may be grieving loss of all kinds, like losing a relationship, a friendship, our jobs, or moving away from our hometowns. By processing your grief in a less abstract manner, you may be able to move forward more quickly than by keeping your emotions and pain inside. The Guest House understands that people suffering addictions due to trauma may have some difficulty expressing grief and other emotions. Call us today at (855) 483-7800 to inquire about our treatment programs. We are here to help you understand and cope with your complex emotions.